Still Involved
by Darkglare
Summary: A continuation of my Becoming Involved as a faux season 4.  Godric's been alive and in Louisiana with Eric. There will be eric/sookie/godric, but will it last?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

This is a continuation of Becoming Involved - .net/s/6252888/1/Becoming_Involved

24 chapters, 125k+ words of Godric not meeting the sun in Dallas, hiding his identity (Eric named him Heimdall, after the Norse god that guards the Bifrost Bridge and will be the last to die with Loki), returning to Shreveport with Eric, and interacting with the True Blood universe for the rest of Season 2 and all of Season 3. All while staying close to the series storyline, until the Season 3 finale, when Sookie finally admits to herself that her dream of Bill and Sookie 4ever is not going to happen.

This takes up where Season 3 ended as Season 4, or Season of the Witch. There is a casting call open for Hallow Stonebrook. This story is started in September 2010, and I'll be relying on Charlaine Harris' _Dead to the World _for plot elements which Alan Ball may or may not follow for True Blood. I am going to leave this in the True Blood genre because CH's Godric is radically different than AB's Godric.

Author's Note: A short chapter so I can get the FF address to add to the end chapter of Becoming Involved to conclude that story with this link.

**Chapter 1**

Sookie pulled her hand from Heimdall's as they walked down the front stairs of Bill's house, and hissed, "Are you happy?"

"No."

Why did Heimdall have to be so difficult? Sookie wanted to scream, cry, and hit someone, and Bill was not available. She was stuck with a vampire over 2,000 years old, who drove her crazy because she barely understood him.

Sookie was so over vampires, but since Heimdall had mentioned werewolves to the Queen, she wasn't going to be stupid. Or at least as stupid as she had been over Bill. Having Heimdall walk her home had to be better than Eric seeing her across the cemetery. As far as she can tell, the one person she had cheated on Bill with, now hated her, or as he said, only disliked her. Then he goes and gets her food, a duplicate of everything she had eaten during her stay at Eric's house, and then gets in the face of her fairy friend, Claudette, claiming Sookie's his. How was she supposed to cope with such a moody asshole?

"Is it safe to cross the cemetery?"

"I don't smell them around now," Heimdall answered, "and Eric is close enough to summon quickly. I called him earlier because there were so many."

"At least you admit there's something you're afraid of," Sookie said, but then regretted her words. She had dreamed of Godric being tortured by a fairy.

"Yes," he replied.

"Why did you stop me from going with Claudette?"

"Fairies live a long time like vampires. Both of us have difficulty measuring time in human terms. Their world is not like here, and you may have been gone months or years before they returned you, if they returned you at all. Without you letting anyone know you were going, it would be a mystery and cause unnecessary heartache."

"For you?"

There was not an immediate answer, but eventually he replied, "My comment was meant about your brother, Sam and other mortals. You have a connection with a few vampires. To us, I believe it would feel like you were suddenly gone. I'm not sure if it would feel like you died or not. I have not had someone to whom I've given my blood disappear to the fairy world, or another separate existence."

"If I had gone, what would your guess be about what happened to me?"

"It would have depended on what I felt. I always feel when someone I've shared my blood with dies, even if they are distant by location and years. If it felt similar, I would have suspected you were suddenly killed. If not, I would have asked Eric to compare our experiences. He shares his blood more readily than I."

They continued walking, with him matching Sookie's speed in her bare feet across the lush grass of the cemetery. She left her house earlier without putting on any shoes.

She accepted his answer. So far, Heimdall's lies were obvious when he was protecting his identity, but other than that, he seemed to tell her the truth, or not answer. He never claimed to love her like Bill. Godric also told her she smelled different than a human, and until earlier today, had not tasted her blood.

Then there was Eric. Sookie could not think of Heimdall without attaching Eric. It was not just the dreams, but the way he kissed her in reality. His passion infused kiss was not Bill's, and not the sweet, slow way his maker savored her.

She was smarter now. After Bill, no more vampires. Especially any that she had had blood from. She couldn't even say Bill 'played' her. What he did was a whole new type of low.

The only reason she was not giving Heimdall a slap across the face was the one time they did do something sexual, she had not had his blood yet. The first time was all Bill's fault for draining her almost to death. Why didn't she dump him for good then? What the hell was wrong with her? Alcide called her a door mat. Maybe she was. Twenty-six years of craving romance, and Sookie let the first man whom she couldn't read with a bit of southern charm into her life and panties. She was such an idiot.

"Are you angry at me right now?" Heimdall asked, as they reached her poorly maintained driveway.

"I'm angry at a lot of things. You're one of them, but not the worst."

He did not respond to that, and kept walking beside her.

The moment she dreaded came up, when he climbed her front porch stairs with her. No vampire was welcome in her home. New house rule. The only exception would be if there was a werewolf in her house.

Sookie wanted to explain this rule to Heimdall, but he was studying the mud smeared on the front of her house, rather than paying attention to her. "Is this from the maenad still?"

"Yeah, I've been busy."

"I am not good at cleaning, but I can pay for someone," he mentioned, while looking at the paint now. "Paint it white again?"

"I don't need your help."

He looked puzzled as he glanced at her, then clarified, "You don't want this fixed?"

"I'll deal with it. I'm good at that."

"Do you need assistance with anything else at this time?"

"What?"

"I said you were mine earlier. I am now obligated to take care of things for you."

"Uh, welcome to the 21st century. You don't have to do shit."

"Even with the Great Revelation, vampires still have traditions," he replied.

"I don't give a fuck what your traditions are. Being lying, traitorous undead shits has ruined my life."

Sookie went inside alone, shutting and locking the front door. Tara had her own key. Oh crap … she looked out the curtain, and Heimdall had gotten in that silly crouch of his, pretending he was a gargoyle, on her front porch.

Opening the door, she snarled, "Get off my porch. Tara's coming back any minute now, and she don't like vampires."

He stood, nodded, jumped over the stairs and walked off to the side into the darkness.

Sookie looked through the cabinets and found a pack of chocolate chips so mixed up a batch of cookies, and baked them up to wait for Tara. Merlotte's was closing, so she should be back soon. She must have talked to Sam or someone else, after she saw Lafayette.

After eating one of the cookies she planned to save, and thirty minutes later, Sookie called Tara's cell phone and got her voice mail. She left a message, "Hey Tara, I'm waiting up for you. Give me a call if you're not coming home tonight. Bye."

Once she hung up, Sookie thought about how stupid that message sounded. After Franklin, Tara needed time. Maybe she went home with Lafayette. She wasn't about to go … oh, her best friend was self-destructive. Sookie figured she was too with a large sigh, wondering if Tara was coming home or going to call.

Another thirty minutes passed, and nothing, except the kitchen was spotless and the cookies arranged on a large plate on the table.

Sookie was hurt. She had told Tara she needed her, and her best friend went off to see her cousin and totally forgot about her. She hoped. Jason killed Franklin so Tara was probably off being Tara, and she'd find out tomorrow what she did.

Already hurting, she figured that she couldn't do any worse, and went to the back door, opened it and called, "Heimdall."

"Yes?" he answered, coming into the aura of the back porch light.

"Come inside."

He unexpectedly stopped at the threshold.

"What?"

Heimdall covered his nose with his hand, complaining, "Food."

"What?" Sookie repeated. Bill said he didn't mind, and was only annoyed by the smell of garlic. She had only been baking cookies.

"I am intolerant to the strong smell of human food," he replied, taking a step backwards. "I will visit another time." Heimdall turned.

"Wait." Sookie could not believe this. She believed it because Eric had mentioned it, but this is the first time she saw a vampire intimidated by something so simple. A cookie was not like a cross or holy water … in the movies. "You don't have to stay in the kitchen."

"You do not need to trouble yourself, Miss Stackhouse. I suspect Eric will call me soon."

"I forgot Eric told me that you are sensitive to smells. Come through to the living room, and I'll open a window."

When he did not move, she said, "I can't believe I found a vampire not demanding to be let in my house."

"I do not spend much time among humans. There's too much about them that's different."

"Aw, come on. You used to be human once."

"No, I don't think so."

There was a whistling sound followed by a wah, wah, wah. Sookie knew it was some famous movie song, but couldn't remember what.

Heimdall looked downwards and took out his phone from his front pocket. "It did not do that before," he said, before hitting a button and saying, "Yes?"

"Hmm … okay," he said, then took the phone away from his ear and looked at it. It turned itself off again. He had forgotten to ask Eric why it did that. The phones in his Dallas nest needed a button pressed on them to turn off, and everyone got annoyed when he did not press that button. It would have helped him if they stopped getting new telephones.

"I am returning to Shreveport. Good night, Miss Stackhouse."

"Heimdall ..."

"Yes?"

"Are you going to lurk around my house every night?"

"I need to follow Eric's instructions."

"Why?"

Heimdall tilted his head, then said, "You have forgotten? I am pretending to be Eric's."

"How long's that gonna go on?"

"Till we tire of it."

"What if Eric doesn't tire of bossing you around?"

"Are you speculating, or trying to draw me into some argument?"

"Some of both, I suspect."

"I am not worried. I have known Eric a long time."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Author's Note: Before throwing Eric out on Hummingbird Road, my attention to detail has pointed out that Season 3 began on a 'balmy, summer night' (*my eyes shift from side to side* I needed to rewatch that scene repeatedly to get the dialogue down), and _Dead to my World _clearly begins on New Year's Eve. I suspect TB will ignore that because they'll want to keep Sookie wearing shorts to work.

With me though, there will be a season (autumn) of in-between stuff, and it will be paced more like the books, with vampire time not in sync with Sookie time. Vampires got plenty of time to waste while their blood works on wearing her down – Eric's thoughts on the matter, not necessarily the same as Godric's/Heimdall's.

**Chapter 2**

Tara had not come home after Sookie went to bed. She tried her cell phone again, and left another voice mail. "Tara, just call me so I know you're not dead in a drainage ditch."

She then called Lafayette to find out when Tara left Merlotte's and maybe with who, if he noticed.

"Yo, Sook," he answered. Someone was jackhammering in the background.

"Lafayette, did you notice what time Tara left Merlotte's last night after seeing you?"

"I didn't see that hooker last night."

"She left here saying she was going to stop by Merlotte's to see you."

"Listen, girlfriend, not everyone's gotta tell the truth. Tara did not set up a motherfucking alibi with me in advance, so there ya go."

Great, being a polite telepath screwed her over again. Be worried, or believe in Tara's ability to get into trouble and survive it? Couldn't even do a missing person thing for 48 hours, and at least Tara was not a vampire, so someone might take it seriously this time.

Sookie decided to drive to Merlotte's and see if Tara's car was somewhere between here and there. It was a weekday so there should be traffic on the parish road, but not everyone bothered to look while they drove.

She made it to Merlotte's, and Tara's car was not in the parking lot here either. If Tara was not dead or in the hospital, Sookie might just kill her herself.

Sam's truck wasn't outside his trailer, and Terry was the only one inside. He was talking to himself as he mopped the floor, with the chairs all put up on the tables.

"Hey Terry, do you know if Sam's coming in later?"

"I hope not. Hey, Arlene could use a night off, can you work tonight?"

"Sure, Terry. If it's okay with Arlene. Did ya want me to call her?"

"Go 'head."

The kids were in their last week of summer vacation, and were screaming something in the background when Arlene answered. She hesitated before agreeing that she could use the night off.

For Arlene, it was a trade-off between the money and Sam Merlotte's temper. Her short visit to the hospital earlier this week was going to cost a small fortune. Maybe Terry could pick up an odd job here and there for cash under the table.

"I'll leave Sam a note that I'm covering Arlene's shift tonight."

"Yeah, okay," Terry said, trying to concentrate on what he was doing.

*** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood ***

After taking a surprisingly brief flight that evening, Eric returned to Shreveport to borrow Pam's car and pick up Heimdall. A drive to New Orleans would give his maker enough time to decide if he wanted to go to another country with this human in tow plus Sophie-Anne. Sookie's cousin may be as aggravating as her. At least he knew Hadley did not have the brains of the Stackhouse family, since she was still in Louisiana.

When he parked outside the trailer with an attached deck and a shack addition in Plain Dealing, Heimdall said, "I see two doors. I'll take the second one while you ask Miss Hale to return to the Queen."

Eric knocked on the what appeared to be the front door, based on the nicer set of temporary stairs against it and the outside light, and Heimdall waited by the other door in the dark.

Hadley opened the door to speak to Eric, before the door in back with Heimdall opened. A woman carrying a child stepped out, and he said, "Stop."

The woman put the boy down and said, "Run." Heimdall caught him since the child ran right towards him. He started screaming and he glamoured him, "Be quiet," but it was too dark for it to work.

The woman struck Heimdall so he grabbed her arm and steered them back towards the trailer. With the little light available from inside, he commanded, "Invite me in."

"I invite you in," was repeated back to Heimdall.

"Sit down," he told her, then turned the child's chin so he was looking at him and repeated, "Be quiet."

The young boy continued screaming.

He studied the boy. Blond hair, brown eyes and could not be glamoured. Heimdall carried him through the shabby structure to join the others at the front door.

Hadley had already pleaded with Eric when she heard the screams, agreeing, "I'll go back with you, but you don't have to hurt anyone here. I was scared."

"Russell was scary," Eric concurred. It was a long drive, and he did not need a Sookie-style argument that lasted hours with the Queen's favorite. Unless he glamoured her to sleep.

She jumped out the door at Eric as she heard Hunter's screaming getting closer within the trailer. "Let's go."

Eric stood still, waiting to see what the problem was, besides Hadley not having packed anything. Heimdall came into sight, holding a boy under one arm.

Eric asked, "What are you doing?"

"This child can't be glamoured."

"Don't be silly," Hadley denied, hoping Eric would believe this young vampire could be mistaken. Hunter was not hurt … yet.

"Silly?" Eric repeated. "Sookie taunts every vampire she meets she can't be glamoured."

Hadley looked horrified, but the teen holding her son laughed, "I told her to stop doing that."

"Could you ask that boy to stop yelling?" Eric asked Hadley.

"Hunter, sweetie, could you … could you please put him down?"

Eric nodded at Heimdall, and Hunter was placed on the floor feet first. He immediately became quieter. He was breathing at a nervous pace, his heart was beating fast, and he was trying to keep boogies from running out of his nose by sucking them in with deep inhalations. Hunter was scared. His mother identified these two as vampires and she was scared of them, especially the bigger one, but also because the smaller one could eat Hunter. Run? No, vampires were fast. Very fast. And so strong, they sometimes forgot how strong they were. Mom was thinking of lies to tell them. Hunter could not tell any of their thoughts. Their minds were there, but like empty spaces.

The smaller vampire in long shorts, sandals and a long sleeve T, squatted next to him, and took hold of his hand with his. Hunter noticed he had tattoos, black nail polish on both his fingers and toes, and had dyed some of his hair blue and purple. He suspected he listened to loud music and could skateboard, when he wasn't eating children.

"Is there something you want to tell me willingly, Hadley?" Eric asked. "I'm only guessing we will need to return this child to wherever he lives, since there are no children at the Queen's court."

"He lives here."

Heimdall said, "The people who live here are related to the Stackhouses also?"

"No."

"This boy is related to Sookie Stackhouse. I smell that," he insisted.

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is," Eric responded. "Where does he belong, Hadley?"

"I … I can't."

"Yes, you can," Eric insisted.

Hunter felt his mother's mind go foggy, as she said, "Hunter is my son. He is supposed to be living with his father in Monroe because I gave him full custody soon after he was born. I was on drugs then. Then when I got involved with vampires, I couldn't see him then either."

"How is he here if he is supposed to be in Monroe?"

"I took him out of day care and kidnapped him."

"You have him here illegally?"

"Yes."

"Do you think Hunter's father has called the police to get him back?"

"Yes."

"Would you like us to return him home, and glamour his father into thinking another police department found him and brought him home?"

"Yes."

"Is there something else I need to resolve for you beside returning your son to his home?"

"I want to see Sookie and talk to her."

"We can stop in Bon Temps on our way to Monroe."

Heimdall said, "She gave me her cell phone number," and recited it.

"Well, aren't you special?" Eric teased. Sookie had not given him her phone number. "We'll call her while we drive east. Could you please pack what you and your son need, Hadley?"

Hadley walked past Heimdall and Hunter to obey Eric's request.

"Mom?" Hunter asked after her.

"Do you want to go home?" Heimdall asked him.

"Is my mom in trouble?"

"She may be in trouble over taking you away from your house. The two of us can talk to people, and tell them a story … we'll keep it nice, about how another police department found you, you remembered your address and brought you home. Is that okay?"

"What do I say when dad asks me questions?"

"I think your mother could still get in trouble if you tell that she took you. She was scared. Can you forgive her for being scared?"

"Yeah, you're a vampire."

"I hope she is not scared of me in particular," Heimdall said, fishing to see if Hunter was telepathic too. He had not met Hadley before, and would not have been mentioned by Sophie-Anne, since they only became reacquainted last night.

"You need to eat all the time because you are young."

He nodded, but confessed, "We ate dinner before driving here."

Hadley returned with Eric following her. "Hunter, go to the bathroom before we go."

Heimdall stood and said, "I'll release the woman that I glamoured at the other door."

The four of them met outside next to Pam's car.

With an abstract air, Heimdall mentioned, "The boy should sit in the middle of the back seat."

Eric looked at him expectantly, and he added, "It is supposedly the safest seat in a car."

"Are you insulting my driving?"

"You are not the only driver on the road, Eric, despite your attitude."

"You can sit in the back too then."

Heimdall nodded his acceptance.

Hadley rode in the passenger seat, and once Heimdall inspected the way Hunter put on his seat belt, they left Plain Dealing.

Eric said, "Could you please repeat Sookie's cell phone number for Hadley?"

The vampire in the back seat did, but Hadley got Sookie's voice mail. "Hey Sook, it's me. I'm going to be in the area and wanted to talk to you again."

After Hadley closed her phone, Eric commented, "I can find Sookie too."

They pulled into the parking lot of Merlotte's an hour and a half later, with little conversation occurring. Eric merely told her that the Queen said she ran off because of Russell's entourage. Hunter had fallen asleep, and after Eric reached back and unbuckled the boy, asked Heimdall to carry him. He offered to buy both the humans dinner, if Sookie was working till later.

Sookie was working with Holly, and Jessica was seating customers. Terry was tending bar, since Sam had not been around all day. Tara had not been scheduled to work, if she still worked here. Sookie got the idea that the others thought Tara and her were unreliable.

Eric held the door for Hadley and Heimdall, and then entered behind them. Jessica's smile went up a notch, and Arlene wasn't here to spread her hate.

The noise in Merlotte's woke Hunter, but rather than causing a fuss, he looked around and grabbed a handful of Heimdall's hair. The vampire murmured it was all right, and didn't hurt him. It was loud in his head too, and he had to think of a song, like he did at school to tune people out.

"Table for four?" Jessica offered.

"Is Sookie working?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, I can seat you in her section."

"That'll be fine, Jessica. If she's working late, I'd like some time to speak to you if you have a break."

"Sure. What about?"

"Bill released you."

"Yeah, so?"

"You are supposed to report to the area sheriff. He may have neglected to tell you that. Or about any of your obligations?"

"What?"

"It's all right. I figured that was the case. You were turned such a short time ago, that Bill probably never got around to any details about vampire business."

"Sure didn't," Jessica said, not necessarily worried, but this was probably something she'd have to break to Hoyt, once she found out what it meant.

Sookie had returned with a couple glasses of sweet tea from the back, and delivered a requested check, before she took the time to check on her new customers to get their drink order. She had noticed a blond, holding a menu up in front of her face, but then focused on Eric, sitting next to her, closer to the window. What was Eric doing bringing a date here?

The menu lowered, and Sookie gasped. It was Hadley. She knew the Queen wanted Hadley found, but Eric must be pretty phenomenal at finding humans to have her so quickly. Opposite them, Hunter was on Heimdall's lap, looking dazed and holding tight to some locks of the vampire's hair. Heimdall did not look well himself, with his elbow leaning on the table with his hand placed under his nose and covering his mouth. What was they going to do with Hunter? And why were they here at Merlotte's? Was he going to try and make some deal with her? Sookie had had enough of vampire schemes and lies.

While asking, looking directly at Eric, "Well, what do you want?" Sookie thought _Hunter, are you okay? _

The answer from Eric came first, "Does that attitude garner you more tips, Sookie?"

_Yes, these vampires said they are going to take me home._

_To New Orleans? Or to your father in Monroe?_

_My father. They are going to tell him police found me and I told them my address._

Concerned, Sookie asked, _Did the big blond one say that, or the short one that you're sitting with?_

_Both._

_Do they know you can talk to me in your head and hear other people?_

_I don't know. Heimdall said I smell like you, after mama tried to tell them I lived at that trailer. Then she told Eric that I was her son._

"Sookie," Eric repeated, and this time her blank stare at him broke, "you can look at me all you like, but your cousin requested to visit with you. What time are you working till?"

"Till closing, and I'm covering for Arlene, and Sam's not here ..."

Eric held up his hand, "I don't need you to name all animals in the farmyard. Could you please treat us as customers of this business and take our order?"

"What about Hadley?"

"Is the fare here that inedible?"

"No," Sookie protested. "I mean I want to speak to her, Eric."

"You can, but it can wait till you meet your obligation here. I did not promise delivery of anything by dawn. Can she stay at your house till tomorrow evening, Sookie, and I will return then for your relatives?"

Hadley and Sookie looked surprised, and Sookie answered, "Sure."

_What's wrong, Aunt Sookie? _

_Eric is not nice without a reason. _

_Is Heimdall nice?_

_Yes. Be nice to him, and he'll be nice to you back._

Eric complained, "Is it still customary to ask customers what they would like to order? Or do we shout demands at you like those miscreants there, waving their empty pitcher?"

"Crazy Sookie! Yoo hoo! Sookie!"

"I'll be right back," Sookie said, turning on the spot and marching over to take the pitcher being flung into the path of a passerby that only wanted to use the bathroom, not get a concussion.

Hadley adopted a nervous smile to cover her anxiety. Hunter could end up as disabled as her cousin. Sookie could barely function as a waitress in a bar that she worked in for years. How could she afford the taxes on Gran's house, if she couldn't even make decent tips? She needed a husband, a rich boyfriend, or even though she hated to think it, a vampire like she had. Not an ambitious flunky like Bill Compton either, but someone in a position of authority who could say 'no' to other vampires, not just serve Sookie up on a golden platter with an apple in her mouth. Shit. Sookie's life was more messed up than hers in some ways, and Sook was supposed to be the good one.

Holly knew it was no joke that two vampires walked into a bar ... and came with a mother and child. Jessica seemed to know them, but being Arlene's friend also meant it alienated the people Arlene alienated. Holly did not want a young vampire as a friend, but figured a young vampire might be willing to slip with a few secret vampire things that normal people and wiccans rarely found out.

After she got a chance to view them differently through an charmed flat piece of crystal, she noticed a puzzle, sitting in Sookie's vampire-friendly section, rather than hers, where Holly could try to ask an innocent question or two while serving them, or at least try to study it closer.

While Sookie was refilling her pitched, Holly asked, "Neither of them fit the description Arlene gave of your boyfriend."

"I ain't got a boyfriend anymore."

"Oh, I'm so sorry ..."

"No, don't. He wasn't right for me, and everybody told me, and eventually I kept trying to keep together something that wasn't there. He had been lying to me all along."

"Oh," Holly said, while nodding her head in complete agreement.

"Yeah, so … I gotta get this beer over there, before they start throwing things."

At least Holly confirmed Sookie was currently not under a glamour or some other compulsion from this Bill Compton, or else she'd sound all broken up when he decided it was over. This sounded like Sookie was at least involved with the decision, but Holly knew it wasn't over because she had already seen Sookie while looking at the vampires. On the odd supernatural wavelength of things, or what some called an aura, Sookie still had that odd marker over her head pointing out that she still belonged to someone or something, that warned others to back off. Holly kept an eye on that booth till she got another chance to ask Sookie something else.

After Sookie delivered the beer, she came back to them, and after glancing at Hadley, but picking up no scared vibe, said, "Okay, what can I get you guys?"

"That oyster stew, Sook," Hadley said, "and a sweet tea."

Eric looked at Heimdall, who muttered, "If I must."

"Stop ..." Eric started, as he inhaled deeply to determine if it was only food, then he cringed. He had detected another one of Heimdall's pet peeves, but this even curled his nose hair. Humans had come a long way with hygiene, so Heimdall could change his attitude regarding human women, if they took care to not reek of uncirculated, rancid blood. Eric's attitude was that it was part of women being women, and he loved women. Though whichever example of the female race smelled like that, was doing them a great disservice. It also did not help that Heimdall was turned too young to formulate a mature opinion regarding the peculiarity of a woman's reproductive health.

He swore briefly in his native tongue, and covered his nose.

"Hunter?" Sookie prompted.

"Macaroni and cheese."

"Uh … we don't have that here."

"How about a grilled cheese?" Hadley suggested.

"I can ask Lafayette …" Sookie started.

"That's right, Lafayette works here," Eric said, smiling, trying to ignore the smell. "Does he have the ingredients for grilled cheese?"

Hadley said, "It two slices of bread with cheese between them, that's heated to melt the cheese."

"If Layfayette won't make it, how about the chicken fingers? It comes with fries."

_If I can't have grilled cheese, aunt Sookie._

Heimdall turned his face to look at Hunter, lowered his hand and murmured, "Chickens have fingers now?"

"No," Hunter replied with a little bit of his own grin.

"It's white meat chicken, and served to be eaten with a person's fingers," Sookie explained.

With a pointed turning of his head to glance at the patrons, mostly drinking but those that were eating used their hands, Eric pondered, "Is it Sam's prejudice against tableware, or the sort of customers he attracts?"

"Two Tru Bloods?" Sookie prodded. "And a sweet tea for Hunter?"

Heimdall resumed his pained look, and Eric agreed, "Yes."

"What type?"

"Are you asking that because Sam stocks all six flavors, or to have me guess which is Bill's favorite?"

"We have A neg and O poz."

"Poz?" Eric mimicked, then, "One of each."

"Coming right up," Sookie replied.

Sookie placed the Tru Blood order with Terry, and went to get the sweet tea. Holly happened to be getting a refill at the same time.

"Do you know those vampires, Sookie, or are they new around here?"

"I know 'em, but before ya ask, I do not know every vampire in Louisiana. Just a couple."

"Oh. That dark-haired one, what's his story?"

"What?"

"I notice things about people, but vampires are different. I don't see enough of them to know what I'm looking at."

"What are you seeing about Heimdall?"

"Heimdall? I guess that's not his old human name."

"No."

"What I see is a vampire who is injured, and not in the process of healing."

"You've made a mistake. He's not hurt right now," Sookie stated, taking her teas.

There was a big empty seat next to Hadley when Sookie brought the teas to the table.

"Where'd Eric go?"

"He'll be back," Heimdall promised.

Hadley said, "I think he was going to see the cook to ask about the grilled cheese."

Sookie growled to herself and already saw Eric through the pick-up window talking to Lafayette. Great. She went around to her tables because she was not going to neglect her other customers due to Eric Northman being in the building. Thank you very much.

Lafayette was surprised by Eric standing in the kitchen doorway a moment ago, and his petition of, "Easy, Lafayette," did not calm him.

"Like I'd listen to you, motherfucker."

"Normally I don't mind, but your language has got to get cleaned up when you're within earshot of my new errand runner."

"Your little inky twinkie? We've met. He's too good for your ass."

Eric thought Lafayette was referring to a childhood television character, but had never seen the show for himself. He ignored the phrase, and asked, "Do you prefer him to Pam? I'm thinking of giving him tasks for the eastern part of my area, including Bon Temps."

"Since when do you care what I got to fucking say?"

"I don't, and since I'm here, I can deliver this message personally. You are out of business again, and that's the way I prefer it."

"Uh … good. So we're over with then, or you goin' to have some nasty shit after this?"

"You're an artist, Lafayette. I need to wait for something worthy of your talents."

"Fuckin' great."

"For the moment, how about the special order for the grilled cheese?"

"What do you need with a fuckin' grilled cheese sandwich?"

"It's for a child, not me."

"What kind of crazy motherfucker would let you near their children?" Lafayette complained as he brushed the grill, then threw two pieces of white bread onto it.

Eric watched Lafayette add slices of cheese to the bread.

Jason came into Merlotte's, and could not believe when he looked around for his buddies, that his cousin, Hadley, was sitting at in one of the booths, facing towards the door. He pulled out his cell phone to see if it was turned on. It was. Great, Sookie decided not to call him. Drug addict cousins, who he hung up on a year or two ago, when she called to borrow money, and that Jason felt terrible about afterward, once he thought about it, picturing her turning tricks on the street corners of New Orleans, her body found lying in the gutter, and having no one care enough to identify her body. Yeah, why would he expect a call from Sookie about Hadley being alive and here?

Heimdall was saying, "I didn't eat french fries either," in response to another one of Hunter's questions.

"Hey," Jason said as he approached, interrupting their conversation.

"Jason?" Hadley said.

Jason looked at the other people sitting with Hadley. He didn't know the kid, but knew the vampire. "Heimdall?"

"Hello, Mr. Stackhouse."

"What …?" Jason started, trying to think of some explanation for this.

Hadley said, "I asked to stop in Bon Temps to talk to Sookie. I didn't get enough time with her the last two times I saw her," She said that since Eric could be overhearing this, besides Heimdall sitting in front of her. "This is my son, Hunter. Hunter, this is aunt Sookie's brother, Jason."

"Glad to meet ya," Jason said automatically. "When'd ya see Sookie?"

"A few days ago."

"More than two days ago?" Jason pressed.

"Yeah."

Jason frowned. Sookie stayed at his house, saw him, had hours to say 'oh, by the way', and she hadn't. It was vampires, werewolves and Bill Compton. Family did not rate as something important enough to mention.

Without asking, Jason sat down next to Hadley and she scooted over to give him room.

"Is something wrong?" Heimdall asked.

"Yeah … no, I mean, I thought Hadley could be dead, and Sookie doesn't even mention she's heard from her. By the way, Hadley, I am happy to see you."

"Thanks, Jason. I didn't stop by to see you 'cause uh …"

"That's all right, you probably thought Sookie would think to say something."

"She's probably been busy."

"Hmm," Jason grunted negatively, then, "So how have you been? You look well."

"I'm uh … good now. Clean."

Jason glanced at Hunter, and got the idea.

"No one ever mentioned to me that you had a son. Just the one?"

"Yes. I'm not with Hunter's father any more, and Hunter lives with him. Eric's helping me get him back home."

Sookie questioned, "Jason?" as she came over with the two Tru Bloods.

"Yeah, me," he answered. "I happened to notice Hadley sitting here, and she mentioned she saw you earlier this week."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, thanks for tellin' me, Sook," he replied sarcastically.

"I didn't get around to tellin' you yet, Jason. I've been busy."

"Uh, didn't you break into my house, invite in the vampire that almost killed you, and then run off, leaving me to deal with your psycho boyfriend when he decided I should'a kept you on a leash while he slept?"

"What?" Sookie asked.

"Yeah, he waltzed in, threw me up against a wall, and if I didn't remember I could do that rescinding thing, you'd be an orphan now."

Since no one seemed to point out the flaw in Jason's orphan argument, Heimdall thought he had a misunderstanding with his knowledge of English.

"He's not my boyfriend anymore."

"Till you get off work later tonight, or you gonna wait till tomorrow?" Jason quipped.

"Move over, hooker, hot food coming through," Lafayette called.

"Huh?"

"I wanted to see the little fellow asking for one of my special grilled cheese sandwiches."

"You didn't tell me your inky twinkie was with you, Eric. Hey, boyfriend," Lafayette said with a nod, as he put down the bowl of oyster stew, and a platter with a grilled cheese sandwich, a side of peas and a pickle, and both fries and chips. At the hospital, the teen vamp's hair had been flat. Now, it was styled into limp twists. Lafayette was not sure which he liked better. This made him look younger, which may be a bad thing for vampire relations with humans, or a good thing if Eric liked them young. No telling what kind of sick things that motherfucker was into, except for Lafayette's nasty and fantastic dreams starring the tall blond vampire.

"Hello," Heimdall responded.

Now that Lafayette used it a second time, Eric asked, "What do you mean by that phrase?"

"Just the tattoos and black hair. Oh, and he's got a cute thing going on," he explained with a flutter of his fingers.

Sensing no fear or anger from Lafayette, he directed his next question to Heimdall, "Are you insulted?"

His maker shrugged. Heimdall did not understand it. Usually when someone meant to insult him, they used plainer words so he'd know.

"Can I have a beer, Sookie?" Jason asked.

"Yeah."

Eric sat down next to Hunter, put the plate in front of himself, and then pulled the boy over onto his lap. It was too cruel to place the food under Heimdall's nose.

He then asked, "Which Blood did you want?"

"I didn't taste either."

"Taste them and give me one."

Heimdall took a slight sip from both, and slid one over to Eric.

"That bottle with the red cap too," Eric said, pointing to the Tabasco.

They watched him add drops of Tabasco to the Tru Blood, and then give it a shake. Even Sookie watched, because she had returned with Jason's beer.

He pushed it towards Heimdall, and recommended, "Try it this way," putting the cap back on the Tabasco bottle.

"Don't," Sookie warned.

Heimdall looked at the bottle on the table, saw within the diamond that it claimed to be pepper sauce, and asked, "It contains silver?"

"No," Eric denied, and took a swallow of it himself. "Don't listen to that tart. I doubt she even knows the three ingredients in it are red peppers, salt and vinegar. No garlic." He punctuated that by drinking more out of the bottle. "Here."

After a tentative sip, Heimdall looked disturbed, opened his mouth, rubbed the tip of his tongue along his upper teeth, then inhaled deeply, before exhaling.

"I told ya."

"Shut up, Sook," Jason snarled. "Are you okay?"

"I am unhurt," Heimdall replied. He pushed the adulterated bottle back towards Eric. He was willing to try it again another time, but did not appreciate the audience while he tried to decide if he preferred Tru Blood with pepper sauce added. Obviously, it gave Sookie something else to mock him with.

In Old Norse, Eric asked, "Are you well?" A few drops of Tabasco mixed in a bottle of Tru Blood did him no harm, but he felt something wrong with Heimdall through their bond again. Was he going to somehow insist they keep their bond strong, just so Eric had a glimpse into his maker's feelings? "I have drunk this before and felt no ill effects."

"It is not you or the drink," Heimdall replied in the same language.

Hadley slid the ketchup bottle over to the middle of the table.

"Not that," Eric said. "It's too thick."

She laughed, "It's for Hunter's french fries."

Eric smiled back at her.

"Where've you been livin', Hadley?" Jason asked.

"New Orleans," she replied, pronouncing it carefully. Sophie-Anne did not like the local N'awlins.

"Got a job there?"

"Not really, but I have a place to live, and there's someone there for me."

"Not Hunter's father?"

"No."

"Hadley's comin' to stay over at my house for the day, and you can see her tomorrow, Jason," Sookie informed him. There was some things they shouldn't talk about in front of the vampires.

"You tryin' to get rid of me?" he asked.

"No."

"All right then. Wait a minute … are you messed up with vampires too, Hadley?" Jason asked, looking at Eric, then giving Heimdall a quick glance, then returning his look to Eric.

"I know some in New Orleans. I'd rather not go into the details 'cept uh, Eric's givin' me a ride back there tomorrow night. He could 'ave insisted on tonight, but he's not."

"He's kidnapping you?"

"No … I mean I told him I wanted to go back when he asked."

"He asked?" Sookie blurted out.

"Yes," Eric replied. "I believe my instructions were to behave nicely. It's not my fault that you've been exposed to other vampires who get creative. I don't have that kind of time to waste on senseless cruelty."

"Yo, Sookie! Crazy Sookie! Crazy Sookie!"

"I gotta get back to work," Sookie said unnecessarily as she spun around to answer the calls.

Hadley looked around and commented, "I don't think she makes much in tips, with the way she's distracted and all."

"It's the only job she's kept for more than a month," Jason added.

To Heimdall, it did not sound like Sookie should be turning down offers to get the mud cleaned off her house followed with a new coat of paint. She simply disliked him that much that she'd rather live in a filthy and unsightly building.

Eric touched his hand. He looked, and his child raised a questioning eyebrow at him. He chose to misunderstand and drank some more Tru Blood.

Jason suddenly had an idea and excitedly said, "Hey."

Since he was sitting across from him, Eric responded, "What?"

"You know werewolves, right?"

"Yes."

"There's other types other than wolves, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you know any?"

"Why would I share that with you?"

Jason reached a hand over the table to Heimdall and said, "It's not that. It's just there's this girl, and she's one, and her half-brother thinks he owns her and threatened a whole bunch of family after shooting two dead, and forced her to go with him. He stole my truck but he probably ditched it by now."

"I have nothing to do with weres," Heimdall replied.

"She's in danger. He beats her."

"Weres are violent," Eric explained. "Their rules are also different from ours."

"Did you report your truck stolen?" Heimdall asked.

"Yeah."

Hadley said, "Don't go messin' with weres, Jason. They got animal instincts that aren't like vampires."

"There's also the racial purity and breeding among weres," Heimdall stated. "You may have feeling for her, but it could not turn into a long-term arrangement."

"Her whole family a bunch of in-bred dead ends. Half of them don't look right."

Eric was thinking about where he assisted Lafayette, about 15 kilometers from here. They had not smelled right. Worse than simply unwashed natives, but they did not have the pungent stink of werewolves.

"Not my problem," Eric declared.

"Heimdall, isn't there anything you can do?"

"No, Mr. Stackhouse."

Hadley explained, "Vampires and weres really don't mix, Jason."

"I was just hoping for some help. The parish police aren't concerned 'bout it 'cause they've written off the whole town of Hotshot."

"Hotshot?" Hadley repeated with a note of disgust. "I remember them from school. Ugh."

"They ain't got no medical or dental care, not enough food, half of them probably didn't even go to school."

"As I said, not my problem," Eric repeated.

"Isn't there some government agency you can call to help them?" Heimdall asked.

"I guess."

Holly was not happy that the large vampire got in the way of her viewing the smaller one. He even put the boy on his lap so the other one could just hide in the corner.

She bussed the table behind them and did a thorough job of wiping it down, including the seat. The blond vampire glanced at her as she wiped when her head popped over the seat between the two booths. Holly shrugged and held up her rag, folding it over. She had already figured out that the slight injuries ran along the tattoos, since she could see the lines on the back of his hands, but there was something wrong with his head. She was about to pull out her flat crystal and hold it behind her cloth, but then the object of her study turned and looked at her.

"Sorry," she said softly. "Some guys are worse than kids with the food."

Something about those blue eyes got Holly thinking that he knew she was lying or something else, and she got away from him.

In Old Norse, Heimdall asked, "See the witch playing around behind us?"

"I thought so. This is an odd place. A shifter, telepath and a witch. I also think there's something interesting about Lafayette. It's stronger now, than it was before."

"He's magic too, but not the same as this witch. This one was the herbs and healing type. I don't know what they call that around here. Is it still the helpful crone?"

"As long as it's not Baba Yaga," Eric said, still speaking in Old Norse.

"Don't curse us by mentioning that name. With all the ancient, supernaturals choosing your area, who'd notice another wooden shack, with chicken legs, instead of those odd stilts keeping it out of a swamp?"

"What are you talking about?" Hunter asked.

"The excess of supernaturals in this part of Louisiana," Eric answered. "Something about this bar draws them, and it certainly is not the food, smell or the usual company, since you and your mother have not visited here before."

"Really?" Hadley asked.

Heimdall sighed, "It may be that they all looked at a map, and individually thought this was the middle of nowhere, and now find it crowded since everyone else thought the same thing. Hopefully, they'll start moving out and away from one another and leave us alone."

"There's four atypical people that work here alone," Eric commented.

"Sookie and …?"

"Three others," Eric responded, doing the math for her.

Jason looked around, and said, "Everyone in here is normal, except for you two."

Author's Note: There's been a bottle of Tabasco on Eric's desk at Fangtasia in multiple episodes.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Author's Note: In the books, Gran's and Sookie's old bedrooms were downstairs, and two others were upstairs and unused till later in the series. In the True Blood show, it appears all bedrooms are upstairs, and at one time Jason lived there so there should be at least a third one. On the show, Gran's and Sookie's appear to be big rooms, so my simple guess is that it is a three bedroom house, based on downstairs not having large, extraneous rooms (that we've seen yet).

**Chapter 3**

Jessica had three things to say as she marched into the house she shared with Hoyt, "Dick, dick, dick."

"Something wrong at work?" Hoyt asked.

"No, it's Bill Compton. He told me nothing. Do you know I have to pay money and service to the area's vampire sheriff because I live here?"

"Shouldn't Bill have mentioned that?"

"You think? Eric told me that Bill paid money and only gave fealty. That's some fancy term that Eric can demand he do things, but not on a regular basis. He seems to think service would be better for me since I know hardly anything. He also asked about seeing this house."

Hoyt did not like the sound of other vampires knowing where they lived. He remembered Eric from when they needed help to get rid of Maryann. "Eric is the sheriff? Are you sure he's not trying to pull one over on you?"

"Yeah, he's sheriff. When Bill first made me, he left me with Eric. From what I found out, that's peculiar to leave new vampires with someone else like that. I've also seen how other vampires in the area defer to him. He knew Bill so said he doesn't blame me for not knowing anything. He said maybe in the future, if Heimdall is not busy, he'll spare the time to teach me some things. It all depends on how things go. I'd really like to learn stuff from Heimdall. When Bill disappeared, he gave Sookie a couple cases of Tru Blood to give me because he knew Bill's a rotten maker. Then when Bill released me, he told me who Heimdall really was to warn me about him, but he's been nothing but nice to me, except for when he grabbed my hair to stop me from feeding on your mama."

Hoyt asked, "I remember him. You kept staring at him at Vampire Bill's."

"I didn't know then, what I know now. Like wow, he's over two thousand years old. Can you imagine the things he knows?"

"Two thousand? Is that rounded up by a lot? 'Cause uh, he didn't look that old."

"Looks can be funny with vampires. He's pretending to be young to catch drainers."

"He does look young," Hoyt agreed. If he was working to stop drainers, Hoyt was not going to hold that against him. Jessica also looked young, and could get hurt if she got snagged by one.

*** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood ***

Sookie spent some time cleaning after Hadley went to bed. Hunter was asleep when they got here, and Heimdall carried him in, and put him in Jason's old room at her direction. She hadn't gotten around to replacing the window that Debbie Pelt broke in her old bedroom, or Tara's room. Only the broken glass had gotten cleaned up, and Bill had hammered a piece of plywood over it.

It didn't help that she noticed Heimdall stop in the upstairs hall and stare into that room. Now that Sookie knew he watched Bill and her have frantic make-up sex on the floor in there, she could barely imagine what he was thinking about. He had been angry, and said some terrible things to her. What was she supposed to do about him? On one hand, Sookie shouldn't worry because she had her new 'no vampire' rule. On the other, Heimdall was the nicest vampire she knew, and she pissed him off. He wasn't pissed all the time since he did continue doing some nice things, and tried to explain why going with Claudine was not a good idea, but Sookie's comfort level was not what it had been with Bill. Heimdall was different, and she was not sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Then Eric said they were going to look around to see if there were any traces of werewolves around before they left so their car sat in her driveway for close to an hour and couldn't talk seriously with Hadley since Heimdall had that super hearing of his. The state of Gran's house came up instead. How does someone explain an ancient creature that worshiped some Greek God squatted here while Sookie was out of town, and threw the biggest multi-day party slash orgy that Bon Temps, French for good times, had ever seen? It was better than it had been since the rotting meat statue was gone, and Sookie got all the branches and twigs out of the house.

Hadley also asked how she was doing financially since Gran died. Sookie had used the money from her vampire job in Dallas to pay the property taxes on the house, and for Eggs' funeral. All her bills were up to date. What more could she hope for? Gran did not live lavishly, and Sookie certainly did not plan on it.

Besides seeing the state of the driveway and the outside of the house when they first got here, Hadley saw nothing new inside, a lot of leftover dirt from whatever got tracked in from whatever hit the outside of the house, and Sookie's old bedroom had a boarded up window. Eric had not been exaggerating when he said he was concerned that Sookie had been mistreated by Bill, and that he did not follow vampire custom by taking care of her when he claimed her as his human pet.

Hadley did not trust Eric Northman, but he could not be as big a loser as Bill Compton. No vampire she knew claimed a human was his, then didn't give her something in return. It could even be clothes, jewelry, or money for groceries or a plumber. Not all of them could afford to give something as useful as a car, and she did recognize Sookie's old yellow Honda. It had rolled over its first hundred thousand miles when she still lived in Bon Temps.

She tried to talk honestly with her cousin, but Sookie kept shutting her down saying the vampires outside could hear. Hadley took that to mean that Sook's pride was making itself known loud and clear. She may be a taker, or a 'kept woman', but Hadley wasn't a fool. If Sophie-Anne wanted her to dress nicely or in a certain way, of course she let her pay for it. Hadley didn't argue over who paid for her food, or who did her nails. She didn't work. Her job was Sophie-Anne.

Appealing to her common sense that a vampire feeding on one person exclusively wore them down, so they couldn't hold down a full-time job anymore didn't work either because Sookie said she was fine with vitamins and regular doses of Bill's vampire blood.

Her cousin was an idiot and had no idea that she could get accidentally turned from overdosing on vampire blood. Bill never mentioned it, so it must not be true, and Sookie had had blood from four vampires so far. With that bit of suicidal nonsense, Hadley decided to go to bed, even though dawn was hours off.

Sookie was relieved when she saw the headlights flash by her window as Eric turned the car around and bumped its way back out of her driveway. She could talk to Hadley tomorrow during daylight hours, when there was no one lurking around her house. For all she knew, Heimdall was still out there in the dark, watching. She hadn't been looking out the window to see who got in the car.

What she needed was a total change in her life. Hadley was too involved with vampires, and Sookie could not believe she was involved with that female vampire she met the other night who was the vampire Queen of Louisiana. She laid down a heavy load of bullshit, and maybe Sookie took such a dislike of her because she revealed the final truth about Bill. Exposing the lie upon which their whole relationship's foundation was built on. Bill was not in Bon Temps to mainstream. He had come here to seek out Sookie, and whether on his queen's orders or not, gave her his blood so he could find her, and also lure her in by making her think she was attracted to him.

Now, Sookie could see what happened. Eric's blood was the perfect example. She hated him, and then had all these sexy dreams about him. She met Bill, he watched the Rattrays beat her almost to death, and then he swooped in like the lying rat he was, and got her to drink his blood. Now Hadley told her that if she drank a lot of vampire blood, she could turn into a vampire.

Yeah, a total change would be best, beside her 'no vampire' rule which was broken a couple times already with Eric and Hadley, and Tara hurting her so much by blowing her off she invited Heimdall into her house.

Church would be good. It never hurt to go to church. Maybe join the choir. Wait, Sookie could not sing. She couldn't carry a tune in a bucket with a lid on it. Why was she wearing a gold and white choir robe, with all these other women? The only member of the choir she recognized was Yvetta. Sookie knew they were the two new girls. They joined about the same time.

She tried to not take a folder of lyrics that some mean, black-haired woman was trying to give her, who barked some gibberish at her. It was going to be her fault if Sookie ended up in front of people making them look bad. Didn't they have auditions or rehearsals before they got to this point so they could kick Sookie off the team, or whatever?

They filed out of their room onto a raised balcony. It was the Fellowship of the Sun church in Dallas. The place was packed with people, all wearing their Sunday best. Steve Newlin was dressed in a white suit, along with white shoes, grinning, with his arms held out wide, and his wife, Sarah, was also beaming a smile, in a golden dress, that matched Steve's tie and that superfluous stylish little handkerchief tucked in his suit breast pocket.

"Welcome. Welcome. At last, we're going to have that Meeting of the Sun that we were all promised. A filthy vampire, older than Christ himself. How many lives has he stolen over his long, sinful, unnatural life? That's two thousand one hundred and odd years of a person or two a night. Easily a million lives he's ended with his thirst for blood. A good and true solider of Satan, who embraced his evil early in his human life."

Sookie yelled her agreement with everyone else.

"In fact, he discarded his human life, pledging his loyalty to the Devil at a very young age. Humanity was wasted on him. When the Lord instructed us to be fruitful and multiply, this demon was mutilated so he would not reproduce to prove how much he wanted to be a foul instrument of evil. Satan rewarded him handsomely with the cursed gift of vampirism. God punished him with thousands of years of night, denying him the sun."

Sookie hissed with the crowd at how disgusting a creature this must be. It deserved to be exposed to the sun and burn.

"Besides being a murderer, he's a skilled liar. He convinced me he repented and wanted to end his homicidal ways. So many years, so many lives, why wouldn't I believe him? Didn't Christ teach us about forgiveness? Absolute forgiveness. Any creature with the least amount of sense should regret such a life of sin. But it was a trick."

"No!" Sookie breathed with the others. Burning was too good for this thing.

"Yes," Steve answered. "He sought to destroy this church, but your faith was too strong."

That caused more cheering.

"Your faith was too strong," Steve repeated.

The cheering was louder.

"Your faith was so strong, that it convinced one of our former enemies to aid us in getting revenge on this murderous fiend who sought to undermine your faith."

Sookie continued cheering.

"She's destined for an express pass to Hell herself, but Sookie Stackhouse decided to do the right thing for once in her life ..."

Sookie stopped cheering. Her? There was a spotlight on her, and she was standing at the front and center of the rest of the choir. Nervously, she adopted her Crazy Sookie smile that she perfected at Merlotte's and loudly answered, "You're preaching to the choir, Steve."

Everyone cheered, and the applause became thunderous as Steve pulled away the gold altar cloth. It had appeared to be lying flat on the altar, but underneath it, he had been hiding Godric, with short hair and his old tattoos. There was only a bit of cloth covering that one place on his body, so most of his skin was visible. His wrists were bound with silver and resting in the middle of his chest, and his bare ankles were also held together with a chain. Even from this distance, the sudden silence allowed Sookie to hear the sizzle as his flesh burned from the silver, and smell it too.

Since the other choir members opened their folders, Sookie opened hers. The piece of paper inside did not have song lyrics on it. It was a list of words. The insults that Yvetta called Heimdall, and a few other crass things, besides some words bigots used to call homosexuals.

The sun started shining into the church, and the organ gave them a blast of music to accompany the flames on the altar and all the cheering.

She looked away, and ended up looking down at the paper. She stared at the last word 'twinkie'. That sounded familiar, but what did that mean?

Sookie woke to the sun shining right into her eyes. Great. It was late.

Hunter was watching television with Hadley. Hadley said, "I made us breakfast since I didn't know when you'd be up, Sook."

"That's fine," Sookie said as she shuffled towards the kitchen for coffee.

Hadley got up and followed Sookie.

Sookie put her hand up as she poured. "Not yet, I'm still reeling from a vampire dream."

Her cousin fanned herself, and replied, "Oh yeah. I'm hoping Sophie-Anne will want to watch me with Eric. He's so … hm, I don't think hot covers it."

"What?"

"Oh come on, you've had blood. I've had blood. The dreams are the best part. Though the real thing comes close."

"You're had Eric's blood?"

"Yes, how do you think he found me so fast? Better him than a couple jerks Sophie-Anne keeps around. Bill Compton was one of those. Oh Christ, what if she sent him to get me? At least I know not to trust him."

"You can't mean you trust Eric."

"Eric is the most dependable of Sophie-Anne's sheriffs. She doesn't like him because he's older than her, and is more than a big hunk of muscle. This last fiasco proved that. I can only imagine how he's going to piss her off with wording a new oath of fealty. He gained her Mississippi."

"Wasn't it Eric that put her in danger?"

"No, it was Bill Compton. I'm going to get glamoured later so I'm not sure what I'll know after that, but everyone knows it was Bill. Eric had to do something because Bill and Russell dropped the Magister into the whole mess, and he was going to kill Pam, Eric's child. Sophie-Anne knew Eric would do something, but what he did was a huge surprise. I haven't spoken to Sophie-Anne since Eric killed Russell, but the result of doubling my Queen's territory can't be ignored. She also has Russell's wealth now, so maybe Eric will ask to reduce his area's tithe. I don't know though. He might want to change something else, since money's never been a problem for him. Sophie-Anne would love to know how he does it, 'cause she's tried to bleed him till he's as dry as a stone."

"How do you know all this?"

"Humans are like part of the furniture, Sook, when they're talking amongst themselves. Sophie-Anne's been scheming for as long as I've known her. She was always interested in expanding her territory, wealth and influence, even though Louisiana is a rich, vampire state due to the New Orleans tourism since the Revelation. It's not enough for her."

"What did she talk about doing?"

"Mississippi was never an option because of Russell. Arkansas was the most likely, but now and then, she'd talk about Texas. He lost his oldest sheriff recently. I think Sophie-Anne secretly liked whenever she talked to that sheriff, Godric, on the phone. Even when he was calling to give her a talking to, because his area bordered on Louisiana. She also openly asked him to join her and she'd make him King of Texas, and then they could be each other's consort to uh, sort of cement their alliance."

"What made you think she liked him?"

"Besides him being a male she was willing to take as a consort? When they spoke, she smiled, and it showed in her eyes too. She'd flirt with a lot of vampires on the telephone, but the emotion was only in her voice. With this one, it was different. She told me that she knew him in Europe, and she'd convince him to 'play human' with her since they both appear young. I think she must have had some good times with him, but on the other hand, that also means he knows Sophie-Anne," Hadley said that last bit with a laugh.

"What do you mean by that?"

"She always wants more, as I told you. With me, she knows, or thinks, I've given her everything. That's why I need to be glamoured later."

"Why?"

"Hunter. Eric said he'd hide his ability in my mind, but not take away my knowledge that I have a son, and make sure I agreed that I was scared of Russell, his men and werewolves."

"Why would he do that?"

Hadley sighed, "Because Sook, both Eric and that other vampire, Heimdall, know about you. That new one only needed to get near Hunter to know I was lying and that Hunter was related to you. He said Hunter smelled, and needed to be kept away from other vampires. Eric also said he'd split the errands in his area, and give Heimdall the job of checking on Hunter for me, rather than letting another vampire know about him."

"It may be okay if Heimdall's involved. I believe him some of the time. He also tries to avoid hurting humans."

"Accidents happen though, Sook. He's a young vampire."

"No, he's not."

"He told me he was turned a couple years ago, and his maker neglected him. She was staked after disobeying Godric, and Godric split up all the children she made to live with older vampires. Eric took Heimdall."

"Uh … Hadley, Heimdall is Godric. Sophie-Anne's already seen him, and knows."

"No wonder why Eric took lip from him," Hadley said with a smirk. "I thought the Viking was getting soft in his old age."

"Godric's Eric's maker."

"No shit. I guess Sophie-Anne knows, but most vamps don't go bragging about who their makers are 'cause of the problems that could cause. I would 'a guessed that Eric's was gone since he's so old himself. Really old vampires are rare, especially in this hemisphere. Sophie-Anne's was pleased that she had one as old as Eric because that scares off others making idle threats, but Godric's gotta put her close to the top with old vamps in her state, especially with Eric taking out both Russell and Talbot."

"I don't think Godric's gonna help your Sophie-Anne more than he already has. He stopped a fight between her and Bill the other night. Bill blinded her with silver spray."

Hadley gasped in delight, "That solves your problem, Sook! No more Bill Compton. Now you can get someone decent. I mean look at this place. Did Bill do anything for you but brainwash you with his blood? You don't even have cable or satellite."

"Huh?"

"Bill claimed you as his human pet. Vamps are supposed to take care of them, not just feed on their blood and fuck 'em."

"I wasn't a pet."

"I heard Bill claimed you were his."

"I was, but I'm not anymore."

"Of course not. What he'd do, send you some flowers? Christ. I hope you got some expensive jewelry you can sell."

Sookie glanced at her left hand. She had no idea what happened to her engagement ring. "He didn't need to shower me with gifts, Hadley. That's so cheap. Like he's paying for me."

"Sookie, they know we need to change our lives to live with them. You may be used to working nights, but you got to admit that Gran's house is falling apart fast, and you can't let your pride let your water and electricity turned off. Your high-minded principles don't pay to keep the place heated. Even an old vampire likes some modern things. They also like showing us off to each other, and unless Bill was showing ya off naked, he should'a bought you some clothes, shoes, got your hair done, and … I mean, look at your nails, Sook."

"I've been busy," Sookie snapped.

"Get yourself someone, Sookie. It doesn't need to be a vampire, but with Bill spreading about what was special about you, you might want to consider it. I would love for you to come to New Orleans with me. We could keep each other company during the day, while they rest."

"New Orleans?"

"Yeah, join me with Sophie-Anne. She wanted you, and may still take you."

"I don't want anyone taking me. I don't even know her. I met her once, and even though she sort'a said she was sorry 'bout what Bill did, I'm not sure she meant it. Maybe you can tell when a smile or regret is also in her eyes, but I can't."

"If it's because she's a woman, don't worry about that. She's better … though I still want to try Eric. Wait, what about him? Now that I've tasted his blood, I want to run my tongue all over him."

"Ewe, Hadley … do you know how many tongues have already traveled over that road?"

"Oh, no, Sook, if you dreamed about these kisses …"

"I have."

"And you'd say no?"

"Dream Eric is not the real Eric."

"Yes, it is. It's his blood."

"Eric said it's my dream so I control it."

"Somewhat. Who else's blood have you had besides Bill's and Eric's then? Either of them a prospect?"

"One got staked while I was under him, and I got his blood by mistake. He was one nasty ass vampire. The other is Heimdall."

"Godric? What's he like? Twice as good as Eric?"

"I don't know. His dreams are not about sex."

"Damn," Hadley swore.

"He's got more issues than I can be expected to deal with. Eric's welcome to keep him."

"Oh, I didn't realize they were … but I guess that's okay."

"They were what?" Sookie asked.

"Lovers."

"They're not … or at least I don't think they are. I know both of them have been with women."

"All vampires are with one or the other for a quick feed and whatever else they're in the mood for, but I meant something that lasts more than a night. If they're together, like that, you can still see if they'd both take you. Now that you said they're maker and child, I guess they can do that. I doubt anyone would want to mess with both of them for you."

"Godric's pretending he's a new vampire."

"That'll be a shocker for someone," Hadley said with a grin. "Go to knock him on his ass, and instead has his arm ripped off."

"I don't want anyone fighting over me. I've seen enough of that. I want to be left alone. No more vampires."

Sookie heard a truck engine and looked out to see who was crunching on what little gravel was left. It was Jason in a parish pick-up from work. It was lunch time already.

Her brother let himself in the back door, and said, "Hello, hello. Now, can I talk to Hadley?"

"Yeah," Hadley replied. "I'm gettin' nowhere with Sook."

"Where she goin'?"

"Nowhere," Hadley responded.

"I don't want to go anywhere," Sookie added, looking in the refrigerator. She had not gone grocery shopping since before she went to Dallas, and Maryann had been one of those that liked everything fresh. Sookie had no idea what Tara had been eating while she was here.

She went to the cabinet and offered, "Chicken noodle, cream of broccoli or tomato?"

"See?" Hadley said. "What's gonna happen once those three cans are gone, Sookie? Those two boxes of tea bags aren't gonna tide you over till your next paycheck."

"What?" Jason asked.

"I got a little money left over from a job I did for Eric."

"Can he give you another job?" Hadley asked.

"I don't want his jobs."

Jason interrupted, "What's going on?"

Hadley explained, "Bill Compton seems to have neglected vampire custom by claiming a human and then doing nothing for her."

"I didn't want his money," Sookie said, using the can opener on the Campbell's chicken noodle.

"Yeah, Sook wouldn't even press charges against him for sucking her dry, landin' her in the hospital, and then them sayin' they couldn't do anything for her but let her die. Did he at least pay your hospital bill?"

"I haven't gotten it yet," Sookie replied as she dumped the can in a pot and turned on the stove. Sookie added a can of water to the pot, and stirred it with a wooden spoon.

"Wait, why couldn't Sookie get a blood transfusion or something?" Hadley asked.

"Never mind 'bout that," Jason said. "Heimdall showed up saying Eric sent him, and I begged him to save her."

"You shouldn't have gone makin' any deals on my behalf, Jason."

"Sorry, I can't just stand around and watch ya die, Sook. I was willin' to hug him, sing to him, and tell him I owe him, and I can only guess what kind of crazy thing a vampire would come up with, even if it is Godric."

"I'm the one that owes him."

"No, I owe him too," Jason argued. "I saw the way he looked after he gave you his blood. He went and sat in the corner till Bill fuckin' showed up to lie to you some more."

There was a heavy knock on the front door.

"Now who?" Sookie complained, and then, "Keep an eye on your soup, Jason."

Sookie's eyes took in the Impala outside, and the way this asshole was looking at her house while he waited for her to answer the door. _Fangbangin's all she's got. Look at this dump. Is the mud to keep the building together? What a shit hole. Should bulldoze this eyesore and sell the land._

She opened the door, and without saying anything nice, just blurted out, "What do you want?"

"Miss Stackhouse, good afternoon. I have some documents for Miss Hale and yourself to sign."

"Who told you to come to my house?"

"Eric Northman, my employer. I'm Bobby Burnham. We met previously when your brother and you returned from Dallas."

That was met? Sookie thought to herself. This guy spent the whole time on his cell phone.

"Sorry you made the trip out here, but I ain't interested."

_Are the next words out of her cock sucking mouth going to be 'check's in the mail'? The vacuum in her head makes all of northern Louisiana look like a bunch of dumb ass hicks. _"May I clarify that this is regarding transfers of assets _to _yourself and Miss Hale?"

"Not interested. Hop back in your car and go away."

"May I at least hear that from Miss Hale too?"

"Wait out here," Sookie said. She shut the door and locked it.

Jason was eating his soup when she walked into the kitchen. "Hadley, Eric's flunky on the front porch. He said he had some paper for you to sign. When I told him to go away, he said he wanted to hear it from you too."

"What kind of paper?"

"I don't know, but if it involves Eric, it can't be any good."

Hadley stood and said, "I don't know. I don't have anything, and Eric knows I'm Sophie-Anne's. What can he trick me out of?"

"Hunter," Sookie replied.

"I don't have custody of Hunter."

"He can glamour your ex."

"Let me find out what it is, before I go getting all worried, Sook."

Jason watched Hadley leave the room, then asked, "Why do you always got to suggest the worst, Sook? What would a vampire want with a young boy like Hunter?"

"You don't want to know," Sookie swore, taking the dirty pot of the stove and filling it with water in the sink.

"Just 'cause ya dated one, doesn't make you an expert on vampires, Sookie. Yeah, they're terrible, but if they went glamouring and stealing children all over, I think someone would have noticed."

"Shut the fuck up, Jason."

"So is Hadley in danger out there? Or now's when you don't fell like listenin'?"

Sookie picked up Bobby first. _Queen's whore is a sight better than Compton's. Nice teeth and smile, and doesn't go mouthing off like stupid Stackhouse. If this one lives, she'll come out a whole lot richer than she was before._

Even more disturbing was Hadley. _Sophie-Anne loves me. _Shit.

She went out the back door and walked around to the front porch. Hadley was smiling, and Bobby was doing something with a stamp pad and rubber stamp.

Sookie came up the stairs while Bobby was doing something with a chrome paper-puncher thing to the bottom of a page.

"What'cha doin' now?"

Bobby appeared to ignore her, but his mind was snide _Stupid bitch probably never even heard of getting something notarized._

"The Queen gave me a house," Hadley said brightly. "You know the old Compton place," she asked, pointing at the cemetery. "It's mine now."

"What?" Sookie asked.

Bobby directed his comments to Hadley, "It is not properly maintained, Miss Hale. Some of the electric was updated, and one of the bathrooms was over improved for a property like that. However, Her Majesty arranged to have the property taxes paid for the rest of the year, and here are two sets of keys to your house. Since your cousin lives so close, perhaps you can leave a set with her, while you are out of town?"

"You can't give away Bill's house."

"Mr. Compton signed over the assets since it was Her Highness who financed the purchase of the house and car. If you do not want the car, Miss Stackhouse, may I offer you $10,000 in cash for it?"

"You walk around with that kind of money?"

"No, I don't."

"I guess we don't got a deal then."

"Very well." _Like I'd admit how much cash I have to this gap-toothed gold digger. If I didn't bank at Ouachita, she'd probably insist on following me to to get it. Bitch probably knows all the ATM limits around here from all the business she picks up on the side._

"Where's Bill?"

"I don't know." _Slut realizes she lost her sugar daddy. Might have to get off her back to work now. _"Are you still adamant you do not want the car?"

"I don't want shit from you or Eric."

_I'll be sure to quote her on that._

"Good day then. Have a pleasant afternoon, Miss Hale," Bobby added, as he stowed the rest of his items in his black cloth shoulder bag.

Hadley smiled and said, "You too." She even waved as Bobby got into his car.

"What are you doing?" Sookie demanded. "You took Bill's house. That house has been a Compton's since it was built."

"If Bill wants it back, he can buy it from me," Hadley replied. "Sophie-Anne's the one that bought it for him."

"Bill said it became his when the last living Compton died."

"Why would it be?"

"When Jesse Compton died, it became Bill's."

"Bill knew old Jesse?"

"No."

"So why would you think Jesse put Bill's name in a will?"

"Isn't it the law that vampires get their houses back?"

Hadley laughed, "Why would you think that? It belongs to whoever owns it. Vampires moved around a lot before the Revelation. If they sold or left their house to someone else, they can't pop up and say give it back. That wouldn't be fair. If I bought a townhouse in the French Quarter from Sophie-Anne, the Revelation did not give it back to her. Why would someone agree to that?"

"But Bill said ..."

"Why would I care what Bill Compton said? He almost got me killed. Maybe you think that a former drug addict and fangbanger's worthless, but I think I'm entitled to a house. Get smart, Sookie, or you'll be driving that yellow Honda to Merlotte's and the bingo hall twenty years from now."

"I can't afford the insurance for a car like Bill's. I'd have to get collision."

"Whatever ..." Hadley replied, growing tired of this discussion with Sookie. Hunter better not grow up to be this stupid, or she'd beat his ass. She went back inside the house.

Sookie decided to go across the cemetery and check to see if there was a clue what happened to Bill. He wouldn't give up his house without a fight. Bill should have listened to her and not gone after Sophie-Anne and the others that knew about her. It may not have even been to protect her, like he claimed, but some ploy to cover up that he was trying to clean up the mess he made. How could he seriously have hoped to kill Eric, Heimdall, and a Queen? Pam, maybe, but Eric and Heimdall would have been after Bill for that. And out of all of them, Pam was the least of their problems. She was somewhat tolerable, once Sookie got past her weird sense of humor.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Author's Note: The Southern Vampire books say that Sookie's house is a quarter mile from the parish road. That's a lot of driveway.

**Chapter 4**

By the time Eric drove back to Bon Temps that evening in Pam's car again, he already heard from Bobby that Sookie did not want Bill's BMW 535i. Since he was not talking to Bobby in person, he was not sure of his man's sincerity in his attempt, since Bobby mentioned he was willing to buy the car for himself.

After Eric hung up, Heimdall suggested that he take Bobby's money and put it towards fixing something at Sookie's house. Eric agreed that Sookie said she wanted something done with the driveway. It was a grooved and rutted path of frozen mud from the road to her house when dry. The bare scattering of gravel that remained was in the portion between the front of the house and the back.

His maker then rattled off a list of other repairs that he noticed the house needed, including a boarded up window in an upstairs bedroom, in addition to the coat of mud on the old white paint that Eric had already seen. He also added that rounded rocks should be used on Sookie's driveway since she was in the habit of going outside barefoot.

Eric argued that Bill's car was not worth so much to renovate Sookie's entire residence, so after he confirmed she was being a stubborn wench, he'd negotiate a fair price for it, and was willing to spend it on one major repair to her house, probably the driveway since she had already mentioned her desire to see it properly maintained. It was long, and might be costly without specific rocks being requested. Eric was not an expert on gravel drives and their costs, but since he had not seen any with different rocks, other than the gray, pointy ones, he suspected that was an additional cost.

When Heimdall made the unusual offer to pay the difference in price between the normal gravel and the rocks he wanted, Eric got him to confess that he had claimed Sookie as his human to fend off the fairies from taking her without killing him first.

Eric silently drove for over a full minute while thinking of what a disaster this could be. His maker had not had a companion in years, and his last one wasn't even human. He was a deranged shifter that thought the stars shined for Godric's benefit after he saved him from werewolves down in the Black Forest. Eric was not even sure what Sookie thought about Heimdall. She did not want Godric to meet the sun, but had been indifferent and sometimes hostile when he did not do as she wished, such as escorting her to Mississippi to find Bill Compton. Eric, himself, had been on the receiving end of her bizarre verbal tirades, when they tried to tell her of the dangers.

Although wasteful to lose a telepath, the solution was simple. Let Heimdall go to France with Sophie-Anne, and kill Sookie while he was that far away. He would feel it, but it would be distant. It would hurt Eric more than his maker.

"Eric?" Heimdall asked.

"Yes?"

"What are you considering?"

Ah, the problem with them sharing so much blood. "You should release Sookie. I doubt she will make a good companion for you."

"I doubt it too, but fairies would be able to whisk her away at any time, if she is not protected."

"Although Sookie is interesting, and can be occasionally stimulating, would fairies stealing her be a loss? If so, why not release her, and let me claim her? I can be more callous than you."

"Can you?"

"I'm sure of it," Eric assured him. "You are too good for her. She gains nothing from your wisdom, and is ungrateful for any kindness you've shown her."

"I should forgive her."

Eric tried to keep his mind from screaming 'lie', as he agreed, "Yes, you should. That is who you are." When Heimdall did not admit he knew his child was lying, he continued, "However, I am saying as who I am, forgiveness repeatedly given is seen as weakness. How many incidents should you be expected to ignore? She does have benefits, but you hardly profit from them. You have had her blood once. You have had sex with her once. Sookie counts on your perpetual kindness, and then does something that is in neither of our best interests. You have even given her an ultimatum, and she defied you. When our very lives are visibly in danger, she throws a silver chain carelessly into a melee, and who knows how many people she's already revealed your former identity to, after you requested she keep it a secret."

"Her brother already knew, and Bill Compton also."

"Heimdall, if it's only the way she tastes, take the boy instead. You do not need enough blood to harm him."

"Although a solution, I am not inclined towards something so monstrous."

"His mother would sell him to you, if you asked," Eric said.

"Possibly, but I cannot take responsibility for a boy."

"You would take very good care of him."

"Care is not all he needs."

"Hunter will be part of your rounds. If you are unhappy with his human care, I would not oppose you stepping in."

"There is a difference between me stepping in due to neglect, and taking him for myself, Eric."

"True, but I don't want you to feel that you have nothing if you discard Sookie Stackhouse. She is not worth it."

Heimdall asked, "Then why would you claim her?"

"To spare you the harsh words that'll come out of her mouth when she sees new rocks in her driveway," Eric predicted.

"I don't need to speak with her."

"There seems to be a flaw in choosing her to be your human pet or companion, if the two of you never converse. Even your shifter communicated."

"Do not mock Klaus."

"I am not mocking him. He was ideal. What does Sookie Stackhouse have in common with him, except that they both needed to be saved from werewolves?"

When Heimdall did not reply, Eric said, "You know what Sookie wants … what Bill Compton gave her. Will you lie to her too, and claim you love her, and propose marriage?"

"Of course not. I've already told her that."

"You are not what she wants, Heimdall, and she will be sure to let you know it. She will be the most discordant of companions that you have ever had, including scheming vampires, and be of absolutely no assistance to your quest to better yourself. She will drag at you like the heaviest of anchors."

"Eric, you exaggerate," he replied, while considering Sookie could be an obstacle to overcome, or a burden to bear. Perhaps he could reform her. Her atrocious, fairy blood was something she needed to rise above, and as a vampire, he knew the perils of giving in to base impulses.

Even though Pam was planning on getting a new vehicle, Eric drastically reduced their speed for Sookie's driveway. He would have parked on the shoulder across the road from her drive, but they were picking up humans.

As they walked towards the house, Heimdall said, "If she gets angry, I'll wait outside."

"And why would Sookie be angry?" Eric mocked. "Sophie-Anne dragged off her backstabbing, greedy lover, and you're not helping her rescue him?"

"I doubt she'd want Bill Compton rescued now."

Hadley opened the door, and invited them in. Heimdall stopped after a couple steps. The house stank of food again, even outside the kitchen. Eric had already grabbed his arm to restrain him from leaving, when Hadley's smile got wider and she said, "Why didn't you say last night who ya were? Sophie-Anne's always said good things about you, Godric."

The smile slowly faded to nothing, as Heimdall clearly said, "My name is Heimdall. I am from Texas. I serve Eric Northman, sheriff of Area 5, Louisiana. I am a young vampire and quite weak compared to a powerful vampire such as Sophie-Anne Leclerq. I drink a lot of Tru Blood because I am afraid of hurting humans."

"Are you glamouring Hadley?" Sookie demanded as she came out of the kitchen. Hunter was still having cake and milk. She had gone to the store after checking out Bill's house.

"Yes," Heimdall answered. "Between yesterday and today, your cousin decided my name was no longer Heimdall."

"You can't just go glamouring people, especially in my house."

"I can and I did. Good night."

Heimdall's exit was hindered briefly by Eric, but Heimdall hissed audibly at him so Eric removed his hand from his maker and stepped aside.

"Hadley?" Sookie asked.

The blank look left her eyes, and she replied, "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah … Eric, I didn't notice you come in. I'll be ready in a minute."

"Hunter's having a second slice of cake," Sookie explained, ready to take on Eric next. She was not intimidated by his glare.

When Hadley went towards the kitchen, Eric pulled Sookie in the other direction into the living room.

"Let go of me."

He did, but lowly threatened, "Only when you have the absolute need to speak of Heimdall are you to speak of him, and his name is only Heimdall. Why does this need to be repeated to you?"

"What? Sophie-Anne knows who he is."

"You are not the equal of the vampire Queen of Louisiana."

"She was going to tell Hadley. Hadley said Sophie-Anne is sweet on Godric. He did help her the other night, and the Queen seemed very nice to him."

"You trust the vampire who sent Bill here to procure you for her stable of humans? The reason you weren't thrown in a sack and stuffed in the trunk of a car the other night and carted off to New Orleans was not because Bill took up too much room, Sookie."

"She took Bill?"

"Yes. In case you were wrapped up in your relationship problems this past week, Bill failed his Queen, betrayed his Queen to the neighboring monarch, and then tried to kill her."

"What's going to happen to him?" she asked. She was angry at Bill, but in her heart, Sookie felt she had the ability to be the better person.

"In another kingdom, a slow, painful death. Here, something worse since Sophie-Anne is merciless, creative and vindictive."

"What?" Sookie would never forgive Bill, but death?

"I have nothing to do with it, at this point, Sookie. I will not help him, nor bring you photographs."

"Why would I want that?"

"Because you are not satisfied with anything."

"What do you know about satisfying me?" she snarled.

Eric sighed, then said, "Not tonight, Sookie. I have a long drive ahead of me. You are refusing the gift of Bill's car from the Queen?"

"Yeah, I already told that scumbag you sent over here."

"Fine. I know that Heimdall claimed you as his human to keep fairies from abducting you. I will deal with him."

"I don't want to be anyone's," Sookie said, punctuating it with a balled fist to Eric's chest.

Eric glanced down at where she left it after her feeble punch, and stated, "If you were not an asset, you'd be dead by now. To Heimdall and I, we do not consider you valuable for the temporary immunity to sunlight your blood provides. Bill has warped your sensibilities, and that is the only excuse we find for your behavior. Neither Heimdall or I are Bill. Typically in this sort of relationship, you would be a pleasant human companion to a vampire, and we have tried to accept your idiosyncrasies. At the moment, neither of us find your company tolerable."

"So I'm supposed to forget Bill just like that?" Sookied postulated.

"No, I am informing you of how I feel things are now. With Heimdall, you realize that he is forgiving. Get over Bill in your own time, and then forgive Heimdall whatever you blame him for. He is sure to do the same for you."

"What about you?"

"Making Heimdall content would do a great deal towards restoring my good will towards you, Miss Stackhouse."

Sookie asked, "You don't want me for yourself?"

"We will not fight over a human. I do know a girl falls for a face, and a woman falls for a brain."

"What's that supposed to mean? Some crazy Viking saying?"

"Do you only hear or do you listen, Sookie?"

"This sort of talk might go far with Heimdall, but I don't time for riddles, Eric."

"Why are you arguing with Eric?" Hadley asked.

"Because he's being a asshole."

"Did he confirm what I told you?"

"What is that?" Eric asked.

"I told Sookie that if she has too much vampire blood she could end up accidentally turned."

"That's true," Eric answered, "but she's had only drops of mine, a little more of Heimdall's, and a minute amount from a vampire that was staked."

"What about Bill?" Hadley asked.

"I can only sense the amount of blood from me, and she is at no risk from being turned into mine. The safest thing would be to avoid dying, until Bill's blood dissipates over time, and avoiding any other vampire blood in measurable quantity. Let minor injuries be healed by her own body's resources."

"Great," Sookie muttered.

"Bill didn't warn her," Hadley said.

"He omitted many things. Jessica, his child, knows practically nothing. Sookie probably knows less."

"What are you doing to Jessica?" Sookie asked.

"Doing? I need to do everything her maker neglected, or delegate it to someone else."

"She's okay?"

"You saw her last night at Merlotte's. Did she look okay?"

"Where does she live now that Bill's house was given away?"

"Where she was living before Bill's house was given away. Bill released her, and out she went."

Sookie frowned, but did not dispute it.

"Can we go?" Eric asked. "Heimdall's returned."

"Where'd he go?"

"To patrol for any signs of werewolves."

"Why are werewolves after Sookie?" Hadley asked.

"Because of Bill. Heimdall and I warned her that werewolves are dangerous, but since they messed with Bill, they are now Sookie's enemies too."

"Great," Hadley said, echoing what Sookie said earlier.

Eric went onto the front porch and called Heimdall. His brooding underling appeared out of the darkness. Eric asked him a question in another language, and Heimdall came up onto the porch while replying.

"Hadley," Eric said, "how about we go to the car? Heimdall will join us after he finishes with Sookie."

"Bye, Sook. Hunter ..."

"Bye, Aunt Sookie."

"Bye. Have a safe trip," Sookie said, dreading what could happen to her cousin.

Heimdall edged towards the door, and murmured, "I might be able to tell if you are at risk from turning, but I need to study you closely."

"Might?"

"It is not a definite answer, and your blood was tainted to begin with."

"You're telling me you need to feed from me?"

"Very little."

"I'm surprised Eric didn't try it."

"You are my human."

"You're only saying this to test my blood?"

"Of course. I'm not hungry."

"I know I'm irresistible to vampires."

"Perhaps if you were struck mute," he replied.

Heimdall allowed Sookie's hand to hit him in the face, before he pushed her inside.

"I rescind your invitation to my house."

Since Heimdall had his hand on her arm, Sookie was dragged onto the porch with him.

"Stop it," she said.

Heimdall smiled, then said, "Maybe I will when I get tired of this, Miss Stackhouse."

"What?"

"I'm a big, bad vampire. Now for your blood," he announced, and knocked Sookie onto the swing, and grabbed her foot. He bit her ankle for a moment, then licked the wound briefly so he could stop the bleeding while swishing Sookie's blood around his mouth.

Sookie could not free the foot in his hand, so kicked at Heimdall with her free foot.

He swallowed, then resumed licking the wound he caused, before saying, "You've had a large quantity of Bill Compton's blood. Did you discuss being turned with him?"

"I do not want to be turned."

"There is currently some risk that you can be accidentally turned. Do not have any more vampire blood for at least a month, unless you're about to die. I'll let Eric know, and repeat this then."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically.

"This situation is not my doing, Miss Stackhouse."

"Giving me your blood didn't help."

"The relatively small amount I supplied restored your life, and gave you doubts of Bill Compton's thrall. It tastes like you have been his for years, with the intent to be turned, from the quantity present."

"Can you just leave me alone?"

"I can do that. Good night, Miss Stackhouse."

Sookie watched their car leave, with Hadley and Hunter, and left another voice mail for Tara. Then she was alone to clean up. No vampires. That was her rule, and she was going to stick with it. She had Hadley's cell phone number, and they promised to stay in touch this time.

*** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood ***

No vampires. Sookie woke up with that firmly in mind after another weird dream. It didn't help that Godric and Eric were speaking some other language. There were no subtitles in a dream.

Both of them had long hair, and were not dressed well. Godric had on a pair of leather pants and boots, and Eric was wearing a collection of furs and skins, but at least covered the upper half of his body from the cold. Sort of the opposite of the way they were now. Sookie had seen Eric's pecs more than enough, thank you very much.

Without knowing what they were discussing, intermittently between the long silences, Sookie guessed Eric might have either been trying to make a move on Godric, or comforting him. They were sitting together on the snowy ground in the moonlight with a dark, leafless forest behind them, with Eric continuing to put his arm around Godric, and sometimes giving him a kiss. Godric was moody. Something Sookie had seen enough now to recognize.

She wished Godric was more like he was in Dallas. Not suicidal, but calm, peaceful and giving. Did this game of theirs to change his identity and retrace his path mentally mean that Heimdall was like Godric was a thousand years ago. That was ludicrous. Was it something Eric was encouraging to give him the upper hand with his maker?

It didn't matter. Sookie had enough of both of them. Actually, all three of them, if she included Bill. Bill was the worst. Maybe he deserved whatever the Queen was going to do to him. How many people had Bill played? How many unnecessary deaths had it led to? Sookie couldn't see Lorena as any loss, but the way she said she loved Bill, even when she knew she was going to die the true death, was terrifying. Was that what he expected Sookie to say at some point in the future? Did Bill keep reassuring Lorena the way he did Sookie? 'I'll always love you till I meet the true death'?

Fuck, now she was crying, and Sookie swore she was done crying over Bill fucking Compton. Fuck him and the BMW he rode in on.

Sick of it all, Sookie cleaned the glass on the windows on the front of the house, first floor, before deciding to go lay out in the sun. Soon it would be too cold to lay out and tan, and she was not yet golden enough to enter the long, winter months. Sookie wished it could be summer year-round. That way the sun would set late, and give vampires less time to cause mischief.

While out there, she considered that she needed to cut the grass. It was growing slower now than in the spring and summer, but it still needed mowing.

She had taken the cordless phone out with her, in case Tara called. Instead when the phone rang, it was Hadley, calling during the day when the vampires were asleep and things were boring. Sookie was pleasantly surprised she called so soon, but other than telling her that Hunter got returned home to Monroe all right, and that she reached New Orleans safely, everything else Sookie already knew. Hadley told her that Heimdall was really an old vampire, who knew Sophie-Anne for centuries. With all the unpleasantness of the past week, being abducted and carted off to Jackson, the Queen wanted to take a vacation with her old friend. They were going to go to France, and Hadley was going with them on the trip, once all their paperwork was in order. Hadley needed to get a passport. She sounded excited and happy.

Sookie hung up and felt depressed. Hadley didn't seem to think she was in danger. She was getting a trip, a house, and vampires took care of her possible legal problems for kidnapping her son. Her cousin seemed to drift through life with terrible downs, but when things were looking up, they really looked up. She wasn't jealous because Hadley had gone through some things that Sookie didn't envy, but after this huge disappointment of Sookie thinking she had at last found romance, her grandmother being murdered in their own kitchen, having her best friend disappear, probably still having werewolves after her, and finding out she was vampire crack, couldn't something wonderful happen to her?

At work, she silently panicked because Claudine came walking into Merlotte's. All smiles. Sookie did listen, even though Eric claimed she didn't. Heimdall was truly concerned about what a fairy could do. She had seen the way Claudine changed when Heimdall showed himself. A fairy could be just as scary as a vampire, but obviously it appeared that fairies could walk into Merlotte's during the day, when there were no vampires around to grab Sookie's hand to keep her from going anywhere.

The few fellows in the place this afternoon noticed Claudine too. If anyone started dancing, Sookie was going to run out the back door. She did not need a repeat of Maryann. No, sir. And didn't it figure that Sam wasn't here? Wait, Sam and Tara were missing. Maybe together.

Sookie put on her work smile, and approached the table, like Claudine was any other customer.

"Hello, Sookie," Claudine said, not even looking at Merlotte's brief menu. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I got a job, and I start on Monday."

Sookie had not been anticipating something so mundane. "A job doing what?"

"I moved to Monroe, and got a job at Dillard's. Customer service."

"Good," Sookie replied to be polite. Could she dream about fairies too? This kind of felt like an odd vampire dream, not the sex kind, but with Claudine, instead of a vampire.

"I'm only going to work days so I don't risk running into … you know. They'd smell me immediately."

Sookie nodded.

"By the way, I now know who was with you the other night. How did you ever meet that?"

"That? Do you mean the vampire that popped out of nowhere to stop me from going with you?"

"Yes."

"You're angry with him?"

"Maybe. I don't know. I'm happy he did not harm any of us. That one is a fairy killer."

"Are fairies as helpless as they're made out to be? I've seen one of you in his dreams."

"Ah. Well, there's different kinds of fairies, and let's say he's killed enemies of my side, but that does not mean the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"You haven't told me that he's trying to steal my light. Just Bill."

"My … um, superior, does not believe this one is interested in fairies in that way. I actually have a message for him for you to pass along."

"What do you mean?"

"My fairy faction wants a truce with him and another vampire, if he still associates with him."

"Who?"

"A bigger one that uses an iron axe."

"Ah."

"It's just so they don't go camping out in your cemetery, waiting for us. There are less portals in your world now than there used to be, and one is very close to your house, as I'm sure you've already guessed."

"If I'm irresistible to vampires, aren't you even more overwhelming?"

"Normally, yes, but after seeing that one resist a group of us the other night, I think we are both capable of rationality."

"How do you know he won't make the truce and then break it?"

"His history of consistently dealing honorably with other creatures for centuries is a matter of record. Are you aware of something that should give us pause?"

"He slaughtered a maenad."

"Maenads are deranged. Did he simply pull her apart, or give her a chance to leave?"

"He offered her tribute to leave, then when she told him 'no', warned her not to kill any more humans and then let her seal her own fate."

Claudine frowned, and asked, "What more did you expect him to do?"

"Nothing. I wanted her dead. She was hurting my friends, and slowly killing them, besides the ones she was outright murdering."

"Why bring it up then?"

"He's not a complete saint."

Chuckling, Claudine said, "If he was, he'd have been killed by one of my kind long ago."

"So you're not considering him to be unspeakable evil?"

"We are speaking of him. Why isn't there any salad on this menu?"

"We're fond of our fried foods here. Deep frying lettuce didn't go over well."

"All right then. I'll have a veggie burger. No cheese or pickle. Glass of water, no ice, lemon or lime."

"Okie doke," Sookie said, writing down the veggie burger instructions. A fairy was ordering a burger.

"Oh, and here's the message," Claudine said, taking out a thick, folded piece of thick something that didn't feel like paper, with a round bit of green wax attached to a golden ribbon. "He should be able to read it."

"I don't know when I'll see him again."

"Aren't you his human companion, as he claimed?"

"Yes," Sookie agreed, afraid she was going to get sucked out of Merlotte's if she answered that one wrong. "He's not heavy into romance though."

Claudine made a face, and confided, "Those are the ones you got to worry about. Flowers, poetry, and skipping around, holding hands. In this world, practicality is a necessity. Lot of hate surrounding them now, after that spine thing on the evening news. I wouldn't want you to be shacking up with a young vampire poet right now, if you needed to be with one of them at all. I suspect yours is low key since he disappears from their histories."

Deciding to stick to the pretense that Heimdall was around, not just around, Sookie commented, "Their minds are quiet. I don't hear anything, but myself. I'm going to go put your order in, put this away in my purse, and come back with your drink."

Sookie also checked on her other table, while she was moving about.

What should she do? She had to give this message to Heimdall, but what about telling him about Claudine working in Monroe?

Claudine became a typical customer, and ate a veggie burger, paid her check and left a tip. Vampires were bigger tippers.

Tara had not called, and neither did any vampires that night.

Finally, Tara's outgoing message changed to 'I ain't callin' any of you fuckers back.' So, Tara was alive somewhere and angry. A relief in one way, but when Sookie tried to remember if she had said or done something, she was upset that her best friend decided to take off on her when they needed each other.

She had not given up Bill because Tara said so, but Sookie would accept Tara's 'told ya so', if only it brought her back home.

Since Claudine had not said how soon Sookie had to deliver the fairy truce to Heimdall, she figured she'd see him or Eric eventually. Sookie didn't want to give either of them the wrong impression that she wanted to see them.

That all changed when she came home from working during the day at Merlotte's. She almost missed her driveway because it was covered in gravel. Not regular gravel, but something else. Sookie noticed on the paperwork left on her porch that a company in Shreveport left their card claiming they covered her driveway in a '8" depth of 3/8 pea gravel with border' after leveling the surface. The top section of their delivery paperwork, with no prices, said it was paid in full by Eric Northman.

As soon as the sun set, Sookie called Fangtasia.

"Fangtasia, the premier vampire bar of Shreveport, is currently being renovated. Please check our web site for the date of the grand reopening, mortal." Sookie waited for some prompt to hit a button, or a beep, but instead, she was disconnected.

She called the gravel company, and left a message for them to call her because they were now closed for the day.

Sookie was so mad she could spit. Without Bill, she couldn't contact Eric. When Bill wasn't around, and it was an emergency, she went to Fangtasia. She knew where Eric lived, but that was perhaps her last resort, if the gravel company wouldn't help her. Sookie did not want to get trapped in Eric's and Heimdall's lair.

Impatience won, after Sookie cooked dinner, and then did not feel like eating. She called Hadley and left a quick voice mail to call her back. Maybe she had Eric's or Heimdall's phone number because they said they'd be checking on Hunter.

No one called Sookie that night, but she did have another nasty sex dream starring Eric. The gravel company called the next morning, waking up Sookie. Once the guy got out of the way that she found their work satisfactory, he tried to school her on gravel maintenance, suggesting an attachment for her riding lawn mower to groom it before visible ruts formed. The border on the edges was to keep the gravel in the driveway, but over time it would not be effective if it was repeatedly driven over by a heavy vehicle. Once she got a chance to talk, annoyed that this guy thought she'd have a riding lawn mower just because she had acres of property, Sookie asked about the bill. The fellow said it was already paid, and there were no other costs. She was persistent and he finally gave her the phone number of her benefactor.

Although it was now past dawn, Sookie was eager to leave Eric a scathing voice mail so he'd know she was not going to sit idly by while he did whatever he liked. She dialed, and when after two rings, someone barked, "Burnham."

"Uh … Mr. Burnham?"

"Yes, Miss Stackhouse."

"I thought this was Eric's number."

"Why would you call a vampire during the day?"

"Never mind … um, about my driveway … do you know anything about that?"

"Yes, is something wrong with it?"

"I didn't ask for it."

"Your driveway was in an unfit state. If you hadn't noticed, my employer's automobile is expensive, and he insists it be kept in perfect condition."

"That's not my problem."

"Why are you trying to make it mine?"

"Because I know you were involved with this."

"Yes, I work for Eric Northman. You already know that."

Frustrated, Sookie growled, "Have Eric's ass call me."

"I can inform him when we next speak of your request. Good-bye."

"Yeah, bye."

Sookie doubted Bobby would pass along her message. He was as big an asshole as his boss.

On her break from work, Sookie called the gravel company again. Luckily, someone else answered the phone; a woman. She claimed she was Miss Hale with a similar driveway to the Stackhouse place next to Bon Temps Cemetery, but on the other side. She admired the job they had done and was interested in getting a quote to do hers.

Sookie had not asked for a primer on crushed stone versus pea gravel, but she got one, and quotes for both materials to do her approximately quarter mile long driveway. It was based on her estimated length and the same number of cubic yards would be ordered so if she was off by a fair margin, the stone would be spread thinner or thicker. There was also the caveat that the stone did not need to be laid as deep as the Stackhouse driveway, during her moment of speechlessness. Why did Eric get the more expensive pea gravel? Gran had a couple inches of crushed stone way back when, and it would be easy for a vampire to find a couple of remaining pieces out there. She was going to kill him.

When Jessica came in, Sookie made the usual hello's and how are ya's, then commented, "Eric mentioned the other night that he needs to help you do vampire stuff that Bill didn't tell ya."

Jessica bit her lip before saying, "Sook, I know ya love Bill, but he's not a good maker. When he released me that early, without telling me anything, I can't help feeling that Heimdall was telling me the truth that Bill wants me dead. Eric said that the boss vampire judge that said Bill had to make me was killed, or else he'd contact him on my behalf, regarding Bill's poor treatment of me."

"You're making Eric sound nice."

"He's all I got. I made Heimdall mad when he came over to tell me about vampire hierarchy because I mentioned … something."

"His old name?" Sookie prompted.

"Yeah. He said something about sheriffs, and I said he used to be the sheriff of Dallas and he knocked me off the porch into the dirt."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, I was fine. I was surprised and my clothes got dirty, but he didn't … he told me that vampires over time may change their names. Custom is that if they are recognized by someone they knew before they should still use the new name, unless they are making a threat. That is what Bill told me, to save it for threatening him, but I don't see how I could threaten someone that's … I don't know, he's not always real nice, but I do know Heimdall could stake me without even thinkin' 'bout it. He also made sure I had something to eat when Bill didn't care."

Jessica seated some customers, and Sookie went through her tables before they were able to resume their conversation.

"So did Heimdall tell you anything good?"

"Not from the point of view that I'm at the bottom of the totem pole, Sookie, and he did warn me to not reveal who my maker was since Bill's made a lot of enemies lately. He said later, he'll give me the name of a vampire who was staked to use. But for now, I should stay in Area 5 because the sheriff here knows how new and weak I am, and Eric'll work with me. Not that I was about to leave Hoyt."

"So is there some big vampire boss?"

"I can't tell you that, and I still got a lot to learn."

"So what's Eric making you do for him?"

"Nothing yet. He said there will be more once Fangtasia reopens."

"Do you know when that'll be?"

"I think Pam's goin' on a trip so not till she gets back."

"Did Eric give you his phone number, for emergencies?"

"I have his cell number, but he told me to text, unless I was about to be staked."

"Can you text him to call me here?"

"You know how Sam is about us doing things when we're not on break, Sookie. I don't want to do it, even if he's not here. Arlene's always lookin' for a reason to rag on me."

"Yeah, when you go on break, Jessica."

A couple hours went by as Sookie served tables, a smile fixed on her face, ignoring the thoughts about her, the thoughts about Sam, and all the other crazy things that went through people's minds when they weren't busy thinking about themselves and their problems.

Then Terry yelled, "Sookie, phone."

She set down a check, then went over behind the bar.

"Hello?" she said.

"Sookie," Eric's smooth voice responded. His low seductive way of talking was not suited for her to hear well with the noisy background at Merlotte's.

"Why did you mess with my driveway?" she asked.

"Because you said you wanted it fixed, and Heimdall sold Bill's car to pay for it."

"It cost more than ten thousand, and that pea gravel was even more."

"Your master was concerned about you running around barefoot."

"I don't have a master, Eric," she corrected him. "Is he there with you so I can tell him that myself?"

"No, he's already left for France."

"You let him go with … that woman?"

Eric answered, "Yes."

"When will he be back?"

"I cannot say for certain. Is there something you needed while he was absent?"

"No."

"Did you want me?"

"No."

"I suppose this conversation has come to an end. Good night, Sookie."

Sookie snarled at the phone. That's why she had a 'no vampire' rule.

It didn't help that when she got home, there was a hospital bill from Reston from when Bill drained her. One day of critical care and use of the emergency room was ridiculous. Then she got a bill from a physician group, another bill for tests, and the emergency physicians. Sookie called each one to work out a payment plan that she couldn't afford.

This really sucked. Bill drained her, and left her paying for it, not that he paid for much in the past … wait, he even left her to pay for the proposal dinner in the French restaurant. He had taken care of closing the restaurant for the whole night, but it was hardly any relief when Sookie saw how much dinner was, with wine. That shit! If Sophie-Anne left a crumb behind, Sookie was going to roast it over an open fire.

Then to top things off, Eric called her cell phone. She didn't recognize the number, and answered, "Hello?"

"Sookie, what is troubling you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I believe that is why I am calling," Eric explained. "I can feel something is not all it should be with you."

"Why do you care?"

"Sookie, I did not call to argue, just find out what was the cause for what I sensed. Have you seen any trace of werewolves?"

"I wish."

"Do you intend to have me guess, or would you like to tell me?"

"Aren't I Heimdall's human?"

"Yes, but he is too distant to feel this. Is there something you need assistance with or not?"

"No … wait, yes. Can you do something to find out if Bill had any money I can sue for?"

Eric was quiet, then responded, "Possibly. There have been changes since the Revelation so there may be some legal liability now. Before that, we may have had legal identities to conduct business, but were more careful to cover our tracks. As Bill's human, he was responsible for you, but you and all that was yours may be considered his."

"What?" she blurted out.

"It's based on vampire custom, however, I believe since the two of you maintained separate everything for the short time you were together, and Bill's claim that he was mainstreaming would void that aspect of vampire law. My understanding is he did not provide for you as he should have? Between modern women's rights and mainstreaming, that could easily be established as a new way of doing things."

"You're getting all lawyer-ese on me, Eric."

"As sheriff, I need to be able to argue both ways, and also be able to understand some of the pathetic excuses I am offered. The problem is I don't think Bill had much wealth of his own, but lived off Sophie-Ann. Asking her to cover whatever he did is dangerous since she may get the impression she is buying you."

"Great."

"Did he break something that was not covered by your home insurance? Heimdall mentioned a window in your house. I can pay for that, and we can avoid the Queen entirely."

"Oh shit, that's another bill that's due. The problem, Eric, is Bill drained me and then I went to the hospital."

"Technically, your health would have been Bill's responsibility. Any feeding from you is his right. However, on the human side of things, there are laws that protect humans, even ones that are claimed as a vampire's pets. Does the police report indicate that Bill was your attacker?"

"No, I refused to press charges when my brother, Jason, brought the sheriff here."

When there was no reply, Sookie asked, "Eric?"

"I am a simple Viking, Sookie, so I do not comprehend how you can absolve someone of a crime, and then later expect some recompense that was not negotiated in advance. You forgave Bill Compton?"

"Yes."

"The matter is then settled. I cannot pursue it, unless I am to offer to let the Queen pay _your_ debts."

She asked, "What about Heimdall?"

"You would need to speak to him about covering the debts you've incurred. I will tell him you need to speak to him. I may not be able to reach him for a couple days, because your cousin and he were going to Lourdes together, while the others remained in Paris."

"I don't want him to pay for it, Eric. I'll work double shifts if I have to, and get a morning job. I just want to know if Bill is responsible to pay for it."

"Why would he be?"

"Can't I file a civil case in human courts? That means he hasn't committed a crime."

"I am vaguely familiar with that concept. Isn't there a drawback if you win the case and he cannot be found to pay it, or does not have the necessary money to pay?"

Sookie growled in response. Eric's comment was of no help. Now that she needed Bill, he couldn't be found.

Author's Note: Bobby Burnham offered Sookie $10k for the car, but Eric probably got more.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Author's Note: In the books, Eric is the one who took care of Sookie's driveway.

Second Author's Note: I don't understand why Lafayette doesn't have medical coverage as a parish (county/government) employee. He said specifically he had no medical insurance. It was in the show so it makes as much sense as some other things, like Eric gifting him a SV9 – odd choice for a product placement considering the SV investment fraud.

**Chapter 5**

Sookie couldn't believe the things people were thinking about Sam, and they were happy he wasn't around. Drinking? Verbally abusive? That wasn't the Sam Sookie knew.

He returned, and Sookie wanted to speak to him about work so she got her chance to ask questions.

"You want me to schedule you for double shifts? The last time I did that, when you asked, you took off with Bill, Sookie."

"Bill and me are no more."

"I've heard that before too."

"No, this time he's really fucked up."

"Jason said he drained you, and you were still so besotted that you refused to press charges."

"Besotted? Sam Merlotte, when would Jason use a word like that?"

"All right, that's my word. I think he called you crazy and blind with a death wish."

Death wish? Isn't that what Long Shadow said about Dawn and Maudette when she went and showed him their photos at Fangtasia?

"Well, my wake up call came in the form of my hospital bill, Sam. I need to work."

"We don't got many employees, Sookie. If I paid for a plan, I'd have to cut your wages. There's plans you can get on your own, now that you're hanging around vampires."

Sookie spelled it out for him, "That costs money that I don't got, Sam."

"This discussion's going nowhere, cher. You hang around vampires, and you'll get hurt."

"I ain't around vampires anymore, Sam."

"That's not what Holly told Arlene. Was Eric in here with someone else?"

"How does Holly know Eric?"

"She doesn't, but I guessed a blonde vampire, well over six feet, wearing a black tank top, might be him. Who was here?"

"Eric and Heimdall."

"Oh, the ones that got rid of Maryann. What did they want?"

"They were taking my cousin, Hadley, back to New Orleans with her son, and they needed to eat. So they stopped here, where I could see them."

"That's nice," Sam said, even though Sookie could hear a note of disbelief in his voice. "You should still think about medical insurance."

"I'll think about it, but I got all my future wages tied up in paying these bills."

"Do you need a loan?"

"I want to do it myself, Sam."

"What about Bill?"

Sookie snorted, "I thought the same thing myself, but he's where I can't reach him or maybe dead. Eric said he didn't have any money anyway."

"What happened?"

"Besides lying to me, he was lying to a whole bunch of vampires and they weren't so nice about it."

Sam wasn't surprised. He asked, "Eric?"

"He did try to get Eric killed, but Bill also messed with Eric's boss, so she got to punish Bill first."

"Is that the Queen?"

"You know there's a Queen?"

Sam answered, "Yes, I'm aware of some vampire things, Sookie. Besides, the vampire Queen of Louisiana is not exactly low-key down there in New Orleans."

"What do you know about her?"

"Same as anyone else. She looks young and beautiful, dresses well, and I think the city of New Orleans wants to make some deal with her to increase tourism."

"How lovely for her. Heimdall went with her to France for a vacation. I think it's a terrible idea."

"France this time of year? Or Heimdall?"

"What?"

"You know … Paris in springtime?"

"You lost me, Sam."

"I was kidding around. If it was a romantic trip for the two of them, spring would be a more picturesque backdrop."

"Oh God, no. It's a group of four. The Queen asked if Heimdall wanted to bring a human, but he chose Pam, who works at Fangtasia."

Sam mentioned, "I heard Fangtasia's closed for a bit."

"Yeah … with the problem with that vampire terrorist ripping out that newscaster's spine, there were people spray painting the outside, and … I don't know what I'm supposed to say, Sam. They had to close it for a bit for vampire reasons, and vandals were making a mess of outside."

"That's fine, cher. You don't have to go spilling all their secrets to me. I'd rather have nothing to do with them. It's good to hear that you're done with them as well, except for having them bring your cousin by for a quick visit. Though if they're about to do something that could hurt us, let me know, okay?"

"Why? It's not like we can stop them from doing what they want."

"Are you referring to Bill?"

"Not initially, but maybe I should be. They're all so high-handed."

"Maybe they got to be with someone as stubborn as you, Sookie."

"What?" she blurted out.

"I remember how you lied to me, and ended up as Maryann's prisoner because you had to go back to your house during the day."

"Tara was over there."

Sam frowned, "Well, you shouldn't always go followin' where Tara leads."

"You have no idea where Tara is either, do you?"

"Nope," Sam said, suspecting why Tara took off. Someone else who pulled up roots and moved their whole life to run away from him. Sookie holds it against him for keeping his shifting abilities a secret, and when Sam came clean with Tara, she left town.

Sookie asked, "How's Tommy?"

"He's restin' up. Got his arm in a sling, so he can't work anyway."

"Right," Sookie agreed, thinking of Jason. She owed him a call back. He left a voice mail on her cell, asking about her driveway. "Let me get back to work, and get those tips rollin' in, boss."

Later, Jason came in with Hoyt, and it was Hoyt who started it, "Hey, Sookie. Nice driveway. Jason said you had a little money from doing a job in Dallas."

"Uh, yeah," Sookie agreed. She spent that on Eggs' funeral, taxes, and getting all her other bills up to the current month.

"Why didn't you go with the crushed stone, Sook?" Jason asked.

"They had a special on this. Some commercial job fell through, and they had a big pile of this gravel. Don't you like the looks of it?"

"Yeah, but when you go to fill it in later, it'll cost more."

Sookie shrugged, "I didn't think of that, Jason. I should'a brought a member of the Renard Parish road crew with me, but I stopped on impulse to get a price, and that's that."

She brought them their beers, their food, and more beer, before they left, with Hoyt spending a lot of the evening smiling at Jessica. Why couldn't Bill have been more like Hoyt?

That night, another strange dream haunted Sookie. Heimdall was ice skating on some river with that Sophie-Anne. She looked beautiful in her dark green winter coat, trimmed with fur with a matching rounded fur hat on her head. They were holding hands and spinning around each other in a circle.

Heimdall was not dressed as nicely. He was wearing a dark blue coat, some plain grey pants, and he also had ice skates clamped to his boots.

Sophie-Anne was laughing and smiling, while Heimdall watched her. Actually, if it was in the past because they had old ice skates, this was short-haired Godric.

A lot of others skated past them, but when Eric arrived, Godric released Sophie-Anne's hands and caught hold of Eric's. They skated side-by-side holding hands. Sookie saw them, but didn't realize she was with them, till Bill came from the other direction, grabbed hold of her, and claimed, "Sookie's mine." They skated on without helping her, and Bill pulled her to the snowy banks, saying, "I forbid you to go ice skating."

Sookie woke, not knowing what to make of it. At least Eric's nasty sex dreams were clear, in their own way. Sookie, Eric and a bed with talking, kissing and the nasty fantastic with Eric's gracious plenty. Vampires were going to drive her crazy.

Another morning. Another foul mood. Sookie was not willing to give up coffee yet. If she had another bad habit that cost money though, it would be gone. Unfortunately, cigarettes, booze and drugs were not on her list of wasteful spending.

She already had the house phone disconnected. Gran was not into cell phones, but Sookie had to be practical. She didn't need two phone numbers. Darn, she missed a call from last night while she was working, but the voice mail wasn't here when … or maybe she didn't look. Sookie looked at the missed call 'out of area'. Probably some telemarketer.

Dialing in, Sookie's finger was already on the button to delete it.

"Eric asked me to call you, Miss Stackhouse. I'm sorry. I must have made an error. He told me that you were seven hours behind me."

Sookie knew it was Heimdall, and replayed it, before deleting the message. Seven hours might be right. She had no idea of how many hours difference there was on the other side of the world.

She got his next message when she was on dinner break at work.

"I'm sorry again, Miss Stackhouse. I'll ask Pam. She is good at math."

Sookie deleted it. It wasn't his math, just that she didn't have her phone with her while working.

At the end of her shift, there was another message waiting.

"Pam said this was the right time. I cannot keep risking making these calls while Sophie-Anne and her human are busy. I'll see you within a week of returning, Miss Stackhouse."

That night Sookie had a Bill dream. Running through the cemetery to his house, and having sex on his front lawn. Now she knew that these dreams were caused by Bill giving her his blood, it was no longer exciting. It was not some sign that destiny shone on her, and she met the right guy, at last.

Now, Sookie rated a Bill dream slightly ahead of a Longshadow dream. Eric and Heimdall were difficult. Eric's were straightforward as long as his maker wasn't in them. She appreciated that. Heimdall she liked because there was no nasty, but a great deal of confusion.

Another morning. Another foul mood. Another pot of coffee. She mowed some of the grass, and would finish up later in the week. Hopefully, this would be the last time this year. She wouldn't have Bill's blood to energize her to mow the whole lawn before noon again.

At work, things were going okay, tips were okay, and then after dark, Eric walked into Merlotte's. Tonight he was alone.

After a few words with Jessica, he went over to the bar and started talking with Sam, and Sam left with him to go into the back.

Holly threw some powder into the air after they passed.

"What was that for?" Sookie asked.

"He's lusty, that one. Don't need the half the women in here to start swooning and writhing about."

"You didn't say that last time he was here."

"I didn't have that with me last time. Now, I'm prepared."

"What do you have for the other vampire that was with him?"

"I need to look at that one more to make up my mind," Holly replied.

"What do you think he wants with Sam?"

"Maybe Sam phoned him while drunk."

Sookie didn't like everybody talking about Sam like this, and stated, "I haven't seen Sam drinking yet."

"I'm trying my best with that one. Would help if he'd take something for his rage issues."

"Sam does not have rage issues."

"I hear your vampire boyfriend has 'em too, 'cept you don't recognize 'em. Possessive sort."

"I don't have a vampire boyfriend any more."

"That's not what I saw."

"What? Eric's not my boyfriend. Bill was, and he's gone."

"One of them left a 'do not disturb' over your head, girlfriend, so maybe this Bill doesn't think it's over."

"Wait … is there a name on it? Like who it says I belong to?"

"Nope. They don't work that way. Maybe it's true love and the two of you will get back together."

"No way. Bill Compton was a lying snake," Sookie declared, filling her last glass of sweet tea.

Sookie tended her tables, and kept glancing towards the back for Sam or Eric. What were they doing?

When Sam came back to tend bar, he looked put out and began to angrily wipe the bar.

Eric had stopped to have a few words with Lafayette. "How are you this evening, lover?"

"Don't you motherfucking call me that."

"Why not? Isn't it what you dream of?"

"But it ain't ever gonna happen."

"Really? You don't want to know if reality is as good as your fantasies? Your deepest desires?"

"Why don't you stick to playin' with your boy, Heimdall."

"Oooh, jealous? Actually, you are doing Heimdall a disservice. Please refrain from insulting him."

"Sensitive about your little vamp toy?"

"A great deal of hatred gets misdirected towards him. His skin isn't as thick as Pam's."

"Yeah, I noticed your honey cone dishes it out pretty good. You shouldn't have that twink runnin' errands and taking grief over your motherfuckin' undead ass. I can tell he's too good for that."

"Sometimes people need to start at the bottom, eh, Lafayette?"

"I ain't fryin' ya up no grilled cheese tonight."

"Not necessary. I'll be seeing you and your artistry some other time."

"Not if I can help it," Lafayette muttered.

When Jesus visited later, Lafayette was still wound up. He could not ignore Eric, no matter how hard he tried. The dreams were still there, and weren't slowing. They sometimes picked up right where they left off.

"What's wrong?" Jesus asked.

"Vampire. He's playin' games wit' me."

"What vampire?"

"I'd like to say no one, but he's not no one. When I dream, he's there. Eric's in my blood, and sometimes the motherfucker is … nice, not just in my dreams, but in real fuckin' life. Tellin' me how I should be more ambitious, agreein' that I got talent, and then he goes and gives me that motherfuckin' sweet ride."

"Your car?"

"Yeah, a gift from my big, vampire sugar daddy."

"I thought you bought that with the money you made dealing."

"Nah, I guess that's one of the things Eric's been tryin' to tell me. That I'm made for better things than a plywood shack and moth-eaten afghans."

"But …?" Jesus prodded.

"He scares the livin' shit out of me. Eric's tortured me, left me for dead, I thought, then he heals me. Vampires ain't nice to be nice."

"Did he say why?"

"He said he finds me motherfuckin' curious."

"He talks like you?" Jesus joked.

"No, he doesn't. He's calm. He's real old, so pretty much unstoppable. What he wants, he takes."

"He ain't takin' you from me," Jesus promised. "You said his name's Eric?"

"Eric Northman. He owns Fangtasia in Shreveport."

"What's he doing in Bon Temps?"

"Sookie Stackhouse keeps getting involved wit' them vampires. Girl's got not one lick of sense. Her brother's just the same. I work with him on the road crew, and her at Merlotte's."

"Let me kiss away those bad dreams."

"I didn't say they were bad, but they are nasty in a fantastic kind of way."

"Are you trying to make me jealous?"

"You ain't got nuttin' to worry about," Lafayette purred as Jesus rubbed up against him.

*** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood ***

Another night. Another dream. Tonight was Heimdall. Solo without Eric. They sat on her porch swing, and held hands while he sadly looked down at the floor boards of the porch.

Another morning. Another pot of coffee. Sookie wasn't in the same foul mood she had been in previous mornings, but couldn't see things looking up soon. She took a B12 supplement. It was rainy. No mowing, but also no sun tanning.

Today, the new thing was Sam was having a couple employee meetings, since Lafayette worked during the afternoon slowdown, and either Arlene or Terry were picking up the kids from school. He said he'd fill the three of them in later. When Sookie mentioned Jessica, Sam said this wasn't for her.

Sookie was surprised Tommy there since Sam could tell him whatever at home.

"Okay," Sam started. "This is going to sound outrageous, but since the offer came from a vampire, you can imagine." Sam was still angry that Eric offered to purchase part of Merlotte's to get Sam's employees on Fangtasia's group medical policy. Sam would never tolerate that, and Eric would have to kill him first. This was the second idea.

"Eric Northman owns Fangtasia in Shreveport. He claims two of our employees have told him you don't have medical coverage. I think I know who one is, and I don't care about the second, but his point is this – besides vampires, he knows there's other things out there. Eric does not know why they seem to be heading into Bon Temps or even northern Louisiana, but pointed out he noticed that I have at least four employees who are not what they seem, and I'm not sure who he hasn't noticed yet. He may just be saying that to get a rise out of me. So to save himself grief about y'all not having medical because ya like workin' here, he's offering to let anyone who works here, work part-time at Fangtasia, maybe even just once a month, to get on his employees' medical plan and match the contribution they pay. He's not trying to hire any of you, just get you coverage. You don't even have to get scheduled, and can even car pool. Jessica's going to be going there at least once a week, once it's open again, because she's a vampire, and he's the area … boss."

Holly asked, "Is this a joke? A vampire cares if we get medical coverage? What about our kids?"

"He's already met Arlene's Lisa and Coby so that is part of the offer. The fellow that handles the payroll for him gave me rates with dependents earlier today. He thinks the price might be a little lower if we get more people in the group, but since we ain't talking hundreds, maybe not. The better part of it is that while you're there, you get paid Fantasia wages, depending on what you're doing, and can keep whatever tips. They only do drinks, no food. But like I could mix drinks and in a few hours, I'll have my premium for the month, or maybe work out something with Tommy as my dependent. Eric even said since we're not local, he wasn't going to commit us to any schedule in case of bad weather or something. We'll just be extra."

"Sounds too good to be true," Sookie declared.

"You don't got to do it," Sam replied. "Just passing it along. I know Shreveport ain't local, and some of y'all aren't comfortable around vampires so you probably wouldn't be interested in taking advantage of anything they offer."

"They pay better than here?" Holly asked.

"Yes, but this is a family place. That ain't. It's a whole different crowd there. I already talked it over with him. Eric will not hire any of you full-time. Just enough to cover what needs to be paid so he's not losing money, and maybe your gas there and back, or whatever makes the trip worth it."

"It sounds like more trouble than it's worth," Sookie said.

"Wait up," Holly said. "What kind of coverage? At one place I was paying for medical, and when my boy needed to go to the emergency room for his arm, it was only a discount. My $500 bill got reduced to $400. It was a total rip-off because I paid that hundred dollar difference in two weeks out of my check, and I wasn't getting a X-ray every week to make it worth it."

"I got some paperwork that says what it covers. I think Eric overcovers his employees because of the risk of being around some of those people that come in. They get excited when they get around vampires. He mentioned something about emergencies, so you'll probably get some training."

"It's the vampires that are the problem," Sookie muttered.

Sam heard her and said, "I got it, Sookie. You're not interested."

Sookie threw her hands up as she declared, "Because it's too little, too late." She had bills now that were going to take her years to pay off. And she didn't want anything from Eric – ever. He tricked her into drinking his blood, and she'd never forgive him for being a lying weasel.

"How is that this Eric's fault?" Tommy asked, repeating what he knew to goad Sookie. "I thought your boyfriend, Bill, drained you and left you for dead."

"Yeah, he did," Sookie agreed sullenly. Bill was a lying elephant, compared to Eric's lying weasel.

"Oh," Holly said, beginning to think of various things.

"I'm not interested unless I get to work with Jessica," Tommy hinted.

"I don't think you mouthing off to vampires is a good idea anyway," Sam replied. "I got that information in my office, Holly."

At least Arlene responded appropriately when Sam let the second group know of the offer, and was so flustered that she needed to go home for the evening.

Lafayette spent the night talking to himself in the kitchen, calling everything a motherfucking whatever.

Sam was somewhat pleased that he got the reaction he did because he did not trust vampires, he had his own medical insurance that he paid for, and Tommy healed pretty fast. The problem he saw was the knee-jerk reaction to a vampire offering a benefit. Eric had chided him last night about his little speech about until someone starts trusting someone else, they're all easy pickings out here. Of course, that was more in response to Eric's suggestion that Sam make him a minor partner in Merlotte's. The vampire was quite specific that he did not want to call in his owed favor to make that happen, and offered this alternative. What was going to happen if no one took the offer? Holly may, but she may be even too weird even for vampires. She'd end up using that insurance within minutes of trying to discuss Eric's 'rage issues'. Sam sensed that Eric specifically wanted to help Sookie, and she was too stubborn to accept it. The unfortunate thing was when Sookie's problem was becoming his problem, and Sam wasn't sure he could deal with Tommy, Tara, Sookie and whatever new drama cropped up in Bon Temps. This used to be a nice, quiet place.

*** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood ***

Another night. Another dream. Tonight was Heimdall again. Sookie wasn't sure at first because she was someplace dim, and it smelled like smoke, vomit and a latrine. When she was momentarily blinded by sunlight as a man came in, she realized how much smoke was in this enclosed space, and now this fool was throwing more wood onto the fire to brighten things up, without airing it out.

The guy started yelling in some other language at someone curled up on the ground, and kicked him, avoiding the puddle of vomit next to him. The sick person cried, but that did not stop the bullying and eventually after a couple more kicks, he reached down, and lifted Heimdall up by his longish hair. Sookie had thought it was a girl at first because of the tone of the crying. He got dragged, while crying and reaching up futilely to stop it.

More people came in to clean up after Heimdall and to clean him. He was stripped, and was missing the tattoos on his arms and neck, but he had the odd, eel thing on his spine and the red circle on his shoulder. She thought the tattoo must be new because the skin around it was red and still bled slightly. Sookie thought he looked hung over when some sunlight was let in. Heimdall was squinting with pink-rimmed eyes, his face was pale, and he was shaking and crying. Regular tears, not vampire red tears. Their breath was steaming in the air, but the water being poured over him was not.

He was cleaned thoroughly and roughly. Sookie noticed that whatever had been done to his balls had already happened at this point in his life, but he appeared younger. His voice was still girlish-sounding due to his young age. Heimdall was about Sookie's height while getting dried, before he got knocked down to be fed something from a bowl. It looked like grits with chunks of something dark, but smelled like the puke that was in here earlier. He was yelled at, and slapped in the face and head while the spoon was repeatedly forced into his mouth.

Sookie woke and raced to the bathroom to throw up. She didn't actually, and after spending a couple minutes kneeling next to the toilet, decided to go back to bed.

Another morning. Another pot of coffee. Wait, Sookie changed her mind as she opened the coffee. For some reason, the smell did not agree with her this morning. The lawn wasn't going to mow itself so she got changed into shorts and a tank top to get some of the last summer sun, while she worked.

When her phone rang, Sookie noticed it was Hadley and turned off the mower.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Hadley replied. "Just calling to check in. I'm back from Europe. We ended up going to London too. Pam insisted, and Sophie-Anne didn't mind."

"That's nice."

"It was. I got a whole bunch of stuff. Luckily, with Anubis, we can take as much luggage as we want."

"Stuff?"

"Paris, clothes, London, clothes. The only time I didn't get anything is when I had to go to Lourdes with Heimdall. That was such a drag. I was there for two days."

"Why did you go?"

"The vampires didn't want to go with him. I can see why. He's so boring, and he like really prays. Do you know how long that takes, when I can be doing something fun? Sophie-Anne told me not to leave him alone because he doesn't like crowds. He paid to get us into some things that were closed at night, besides glamouring a few people into forgetting he was a vampire. They also got a nighttime candlelight thing with a rosary. It was the longest night of my life, and since Heimdall speaks every language, he didn't mind joining some group for stations of the cross. Do you remember that from Lent? It's even longer in gibberish."

"So you didn't like Lourdes?"

"Nope. If I left the hotel during the day, the streets were crowded with tourists, and I don't know if it was just me, but there was a lot of disabled people there. I even noticed them on the train on the way back. Six hours from Paris to Lourdes, and then another six back."

"I guess you got paid back though with all those nice clothes."

"Well, he didn't buy me anything. Sophie-Anne did. Though uh … did you really hit him in his bare back with a silver chain?"

"What? I did, but why'd he go sayin' that?"

"He didn't. Pam did," Hadley replied. "Heimdall got dragged along with us shopping, and when I tried on a winter coat, and picked another one, he said that maybe that other one would look nice on you, because he thought it looked good on me, and Pam got really angry that he'd buy you something as simple, wait, it was kind of expensive, but anyway, don't worry, he didn't, so you don't have to feel guilty or anything. I know how you get about gifts."

"What are you talking about?" Sookie asked because Hadley was rambling. "I'm still wearing the same coat I wore in high school."

"I guess you still are then. What did he do for you to silver him? He got into a fight with Bill?"

"No, he and Eric were fighting Russell then."

"Why would you help Russell Edgington? He kidnapped Sophie-Anne and I, and made my mistress marry him."

"It was a mistake."

Hadley snorted, "You're lucky if it only costs you a new winter coat from Paris."

"When do you get back? This morning?"

"No, yesterday before dawn."

"Ah," Sookie answered. Heimdall would have spent his first night back with Eric, she assumed.

"I guess I should get around to putting away all my stuff. Last night, we worked on Sophie-Anne's acquisitions."

"Uh, Hadley?"

"Yes?"

"You know that Bill drained me, and I ended up at the hospital?"

"Sort of."

"I got the hospital bill and it's a lot. If I had known how much it would have been, I guess I would have demanded Bill pay for it."

"Bill really didn't have much, but I guess he could have asked Sophie-Anne for the money, but I don't think she'll pay for his mistakes now that he tried to kill her."

"But you got his house," Sookie hinted.

"Sophie-Anne bought it, and if she wanted to give it to me, she could, Sookie. Listen, I don't want to fight about money. It was stupid of me to do that before. If I realized that Gran wasn't going to be around for much longer, I would have called. Bye, Sookie."

Knowing that arguments or even discussions over money could drive Hadley away, Sookie silently agreed and answered, "Bye."

She went back to mowing, and then took a shower before work. Arlene and Terry were working the lunch shift today.

When Holly came in, she tried to hand Sookie two things. "This is to help your blood replenish after getting drained by a vampire."

"Thanks, but I don't need it. Another vampire gave me his blood to heal me."

"Ooh, that's not exactly safe, you know."

"Yeah, I know that now. Bill used it on me when we first met. I didn't know that then. This vampire's dreams are different, and he kind of tells the truth."

"Well for him, there's these."

"What's this?" Sookie asked.

"Garlic supplements. Power of garlic, but without the taste."

Sookie frowned, "I'm not afraid of this vampire, but there's others. Thanks," she said, taking the bottle.

"Take a few today, and then two every day."

"Can they smell it on me, or is it just when they try to drink my blood?"

"Does it matter?"

"I think I'm supposed to be friends with some of them. Heimdall's got a thing about the way stuff smells."

"You can stop taking it if he notices."

"He said he'd visit soon. Maybe even tonight."

Holly warned, "Be careful. Vampires can be very seductive." She was already thinking about how she could get a better look at this particular vampire. She'd ask, but if any of them realized she knew he was injured but not healing, that would be something vampires wouldn't want anyone knowing.

"I know. You've already seen Eric."

So that night, Sookie had a steamy Eric dream.

Another morning. Another pot of coffee. Two garlic pills with her B12. Today, Sookie started some laundry, went by Merlotte's got her check, went to the bank to deposit it and some of her tips, then went to the grocery store before going home to hang out her laundry, and write out what checks she could afford that she'd mail tomorrow to empty her account back down to nothing.

Nothing unusual occurred at Merlotte's, and Sookie came home and dreamed of Longshadow getting staked. That could be a regular nightmare, rather than vampire blood.

Another morning. Another pot of coffee. Two garlic pills with her B12. She did more laundry before swinging by the post office before work.

That night, Arlene was working when Heimdall came by Merlotte's. He spoke to Jessica first, since she was right there at the door. He smiled at Sookie, but she didn't know if she was glad to see him, or angry that he didn't come by sooner, so kept working.

What Tommy saw was a vampire. Like his brother, he could recognize some other supernaturals, and vampires stood out, due to that bit of glow to their undead skin. This was the biggest loser vampire he had ever seen. What a poser. From the tips of his stupid blue highlighted hair, to his tattooed arms and hands and black fingernails, all the way down to those stupid skater shorts, hairless legs, and the Teva sandals. He even painted his toenails black. Then he added a stupid black shoulder bag. This little privileged shit was everything Tommy hated when he was alive, and now he kept the same pretentious look and thought he could chat up Jessica? No fucking way.

Sam had noticed Heimdall come in the door and talk to Jessica, before getting back to serving drinks. His glance around the room a couple times kept confirming that's where he stayed, and waiting patiently while Jessica seated customers and returned to talk to him. Then there was a big crash near the door. Jessica was standing there shocked, looking down at her no longer white and no longer dry Merlotte's shirt, and Tommy was over there with an empty gray plastic tub that they used to carry used dishes, looking down at the mess on the floor.

"Whoo, boyfriend, you're too quick for that one," Lafayette chuckled through the window.

Sam turned to see Heimdall behind him, answer, "Jessica might be angry with me. At first, I didn't think he was going to head through the entry with a full bucket since there's no tables over on the other side with the pool table, but then he didn't turn away."

"It's not your fault," Sam said, then yelled, "Tommy, get a mop. God damn it."

"It's my arm," Tommy complained.

"I'll break both of them if you don't move your ass."

Jessica disappeared briefly, and stopped long enough to hiss, "You could have said something," before disappearing into the back.

Heimdall looked downcast and put a hand over his mouth.

"Are you going to wait for her?" Sam asked. Maybe he'd offer him a Tru Blood, and he'd ignore Tommy. His brother might like fighting, but the vampire that ripped apart a maenad is not the one to pick a fight with.

"I don't necessarily need to. I delivered Eric's message, but didn't give Jessica the books I got for her. I don't have a message for you, Mr. Merlotte, or for you either, Mr. Reynolds. Do either of you have something you'd like me to tell Eric?"

"I wouldn't want to turn your little virgin ears red, honey child," Lafayette quipped.

Lifting his eyes, Heimdall dropped his hand and asked, "Really?"

"You're a good boy. Don't let Eric boss you around."

"Although I can appreciate someone not taking their anger at Eric out on me, Mr. Reynolds, I am aware of your crimes."

"I've learned my lesson," Lafayette insisted earnestly.

"What did you do?" Sam asked.

"It's in the past, and I've answered to Eric for it."

"I am also satisfied," Heimdall agreed. "Eric is sheriff of this area, not I."

"It'll be a few centuries before you can do that," Lafayette kidded, then added, "By the way, call me Lafayette, rather than Mr. Reynolds."

"Hey, Lafayette, where's my chicken baskets?" Arlene demanded, trying to ignore the vampire. She suddenly shivered as his deceptively innocent, blue eyes dropped from her face to her stomach.

"Did you want a Tru Blood while you wait for Jessica?" Sam asked, maneuvering between Arlene and Heimdall. The vampire tried to cover his nose again. Lafayette was pouring out a pot of something that had little red, clawed creatures curled up on it.

"I'm not comfortable in this place, but I also need to ask something of Miss Stackhouse."

Sam got closer and said, "Listen, that was my younger brother that tried to dump the dishes on you. He's got anger problems. He didn't do that because you're a vampire. The Blood'll be on the house."

Heimdall glanced at Tommy sullenly mopping and asked, "He is also one? I thought it was one per generation in a family."

"I don't know, but you're right, he is."

"Excuse me, Mr. Merlotte," Heimdall said.

Sookie saw Heimdall move away from Sam to follow her to the pick-up window. She was dropping off an order for Lafayette.

"Miss Stackhouse, once I give Jessica a couple books, I am free for rest of the night."

"How nice for you," she responded.

"What time are you working till?"

"Closing."

"I'll check for werewolves, and then return here?"

"For what?" Sookie asked.

"Didn't you wish to talk to me?"

"Maybe. I got to get back to work," Sookie replied. She didn't know what she wanted to say to Heimdall.

"Should I stay, or return to Shreveport?" Heimdall asked.

"Stay."

"I'll return later."

Heimdall took his time looking over the woods and cemetery around Sookie's house, before returning to wait in the parking lot near her yellow Honda.

When the cars began clearing out, he reentered the building.

Jessica was cleaning the tables and said, "I thought you forgot to give me those books."

"No, but once I knew I'd be back later, I decided to hold onto them since you can't read at work."

"I don't know if I'll understand it. I never heard of utilitarianism."

"That's why I got the books for you."

Looking at one, Jessica said, "This is about animals."

"Yes, _Animal Liberation _is."

"You're not trying to say vampires think of humans as animals, are you?"

"Not necessarily," Heimdall replied. He had been similar to livestock when he was alive. His treatment improved slightly when he crossed the path of a vampire who found his pathetic state curious.

"Sam, why's there a customer still here?" Arlene loudly complained.

"He's fine," Sam replied. "Heimdall, did you want that Tru Blood I offered you earlier?

"No, thank you, Mr. Merlotte."

"Saving room for us 'cause those two are goin' to wait in the parkin' lot, and take us out one at a time and drain us dry," Arlene predicted lowly as she filled catsup bottles.

"Arlene's always like that," Jessica explained. "She hates vampires."

"Isn't it illegal to have harassment in the workplace?"

"Not for vampires yet. Sam doesn't like many vampires, but he knows I needed help."

"Does he want you to find another job, or stay here? I realize from my own young age that I can't be used for many tasks at Fangtasia."

Jessica knew he was lying, but went along with it. "I like it here because it's work at night, and I can see Hoyt. Since I don't eat or drink, he eats dinner here."

"I thought this food was not healthy."

"It's not … darn."

"It would also benefit you if your human was in good health."

"Won't my blood keep him healthy?"

"Yes," Heimdall agreed, then his voice dropped and he confided, "but he'll taste better." He then warned, "Just don't go to extremes."

"Like what?"

"If you think you have a craving for plums, don't force him to have a diet of plums for a month."

"You're tried that?"

"Not I, but there's some that keep a stable of humans to fulfill their cravings."

"Do you have a favorite?"

"Yes, but it seems wasteful to keep someone on call when … Tru Blood is so readily available," Heimdall stated as Tommy mopped his way past. The wet path in his wake was erratic.

Sookie had her pocketbook over her shoulder and her keys in her hand. She asked, "You comin'?"

"Yes," Heimdall answered, following her.

"See ya," Jessica called, before changing her speed to clean the rest of the tables vampire quick. She'd rather be home with Hoyt than listening to Arlene grumble.

Not sure what to ask him first, Sookie was quiet till he pulled the seat belt across himself.

"You too?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're putting on a seat belt."

"Oh," he said, letting it snap back without fastening it. "I thought it was the law that everyone in the front seat wear one."

"It is."

He grabbed the buckle again and this time fastened it. "I have trouble grasping some humor."

Sookie wasn't trying be funny. It was just odd that some vampires put on seat belts only because it was the law. Bill didn't. Heimdall seemed like the kind of person that would do it due to the law, but why should Eric?

Before they got to her house, Sookie asked, "Why'd you mess with my driveway?"

"You are displeased?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. Eric said you mentioned that you wanted it fixed. If I sold the car you said you did not want, you would not take the money, so I used the money for the repair that you prioritized."

"That driveway cost more than the car," Sookie pointed out. She was no longer angry at that, but wished they had talked to her first. If she knew about that hospital bill, she would have taken the cash.

"I know. I paid the difference for the gravel that would not hurt your bare feet."

"Where did you get money?" Sookie asked.

After a moment, Heimdall said, "I'm not understanding your question."

"You told Sophie-Anne you were broke."

"Sophie-Anne has stolen from me in the past."

"And she's still alive?"

"She's not subtle, yet is too smart to directly steal from Eric."

"Why would she steal from you then?" Sookie asked.

Heimdall didn't immediately answer, and Sookie glanced at him as she turned into her driveway. It was too dark to see him. "She sees me as weak because I forgive." He was thinking of the similarity between Sookie and Sophie-Anne. Both counted on him forgiving, even when they did things that hurt him.

"That's not weakness," Sookie assured him.

"She never steals anything of importance."

Sookie had little idea of what would even be important to Heimdall. Just Eric? He pretty much left his old life behind.

"Did you smell any werewolves?" Sookie asked as she put the car into park and turned it off.

"No. Eric said one felt a strong need to personally seek revenge against you. Perhaps she was impertinent, and Russell killed her."

"I hope so," Sookie said, then she wouldn't have to worry about Debbie Pelt, or vampires hanging around her house under the pretense of looking for her.

Heimdall had not meant his statement that way, but since Sookie was part-fae, she was as bloodthirsty as most vampires. He should have noticed that with the maenad, but had attributed it to the creature taking up residence here. Obviously that did not matter to Sookie, he guessed as he looked at the mud still on the house's exterior.

He paused at the threshold.

"Come in," Sookie said, then asked, "Do you know how frustrating you are?"

"No."

Heimdall only came inside and stopped. He asked, "Why did Eric say I needed to call you from France?"

"I was upset."

"Everything is better now?"

"No, but I've put on my big girl panties and I'm dealin' with it."

"I am not understanding your colloquialism."

"My what?"

"Your phrasing meant something, but the literal meaning doesn't seem correct to me. Such as when most say the word 'kid', they mean a human child, not a baby goat."

"Everyone knows that."

"I need to listen to a language spoken by native speakers to learn those things from the context. So what do you mean, what you told Eric is resolved or not?"

"Did you want to sit down?"

"If you prefer that."

"I've been working double shifts so sitting's good."

Heimdall followed her, and sat on the couch opposite Sookie's, and asked, "Is Mr. Merlotte going to hire more people?"

"I need to work for the money, Heimdall."

"I understand that concept. You are intentionally working long hours to make up the wages you lost while you were in Mississippi, or because your workplace needs to hire more staff?"

"I need to make up my lost wages, and I got to work more because I have bills."

"Are your wages at Merlotte's normally sufficient to cover what you need?"

"No," she answered. Why would anyone think waiting tables paid enough to take care of someone's bills?

"Are you going to find other work that pays more?"

"I'm not qualified to do anything," Sookie said, then pointed out, "except I guess if Eric's got a job to find a missing vampire. That paid well."

"I don't know if I can get Eric to do more for you unless I give you to him. He considered forcing Mr. Merlotte to sell him part of his business to get you the medical insurance you need."

"Wait, back it up, mister. You just said an awful lot," Sookie said. "You said you could give me to Eric? And Eric can force Sam to sell him Merlotte's?"

"Since you asked about Eric first, the answer to that is he has noticed that we are not harmonious. Rather than letting you irritate me, he is willing to take responsibility for you."

Sookie sputtered, "That is the biggest load of shit I've ever heard. Eric just wants to get in my panties." She then rephrased it, "Have sex with me."

Heimdall shifted and looked at the floor, before saying, "That is not an issue. I would not disallow you from being intimate with Eric. You've already said I am not physically adequate, and I accept that."

"I wasn't agreeing with Yvetta about that. I was angry Eric locked me up, and that you didn't free me. She was unnecessarily cruel to you, and because both of us were angry a lot of things got said that shouldn't have been."

After a moment of silence, where Sookie noticed Heimdall's toes twitching, he said, "I have had platonic relationships with former companions. Eric knows that. He means your badgering, stubbornness, and your lack of trust in me."

"I don't trust Eric more than you."

"That is due to Mr. Compton. Given time, I'm sure he would have convinced you I was twice as bad."

"He would'a had a tough time with that one," Sookie replied, but then remembered Bill had called Godric, not even Heimdall yet, soulless. She had been focused on Godric at the time, and had ignored Bill, but with more of Bill's blood, Sookie may have started to believe him.

"When Eric tried to explain some of your situation to me regarding the insurance, I asked him why he or I couldn't insure you, and I didn't understand most of what he said about dependents, but he can insure you as your employer. Mr. Merlotte owes him a favor, and Eric would be able to use his business to buy enough of Merlotte's to become your employer and insure you. Yet Eric would rather wait to call in his favor so suggested you become a part-time employee at Fangtasia, along with Mr. Reynolds who stubbornly refused medical care when his leg was rotting away."

Sookie sighed. Why couldn't vampires think like normal people instead of making everything so complicated? She mentioned, "I think he's only lured in one of the waitresses with medical coverage."

"The mother of Coby and Lisa?"

"No, she doesn't like vampires."

"I noticed she is pregnant with another child. Custom is to have new children born at a hospital?"

"Yeah, but I don't got the patience to explain all that sort of thing to you tonight."

"Were you referring to yourself in the third person when you claimed Eric lured one of the waitresses?"

"No, I meant Holly. She has children too."

"Are they young? I might be able to convince Eric of something else for her, if it would be a hardship for her to travel that far."

"No, I think she wants to check out Fangtasia. She'll probably annoy the hell out of all ya's. She's real interested in you already."

"Me?" he asked in surprise.

"Something about you being hurt and not healing."

"How much of me do you discuss with others?"

Sookie corrected him, "I never told her that."

"Which that? I have multiple infirmities from my human years."

"You do? I only know about the one, and that ya can't see when you're dressed."

"I am aware you have observed me, yet you lie to me. Which did she mean?" he asked again.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I think Holly's interested because she's one of those new age types."

"I noticed her when we brought Miss Hale to visit you. What are her powers?"

"Powers?"

"She's a witch. They usually specialize in different branches of magic. Like in the _Wizard of Oz_, when Glinda asked Dorothy whether she was a good witch or a bad witch."

Sookie explained, "She likes to ask questions, give advice and herbs. Do you like that movie?"

"I had a companion that was fond of it. We watched it eight times on television."

"Eight times in a row?"

"No, over many years. My memory has eight different occasions that we watched it."

"Wait, aren't vampire memories really good?"

"Yes."

"Why would you watch the same movie that many times?"

"My companion enjoyed my company. If I said I was not going to watch it with him, he may have chosen not to watch it to remain with me. That is the difference with you. I cannot seem to do anything to please you. Even when I am saving your life, you are not happy to see me. That is what is wrong between us."

Sookie's mind worked at trying to find the perfect example to refute that. She then said, "I do like seeing you, at times."

"That is faint praise," Heimdall replied laconically.

"I'm not going to lie," Sookie argued.

"I have not asked for that. It would hardly satisfy me since you've had my blood, and I would feel something different. Is there anything else you needed to discuss?"

"Yeah."

Heimdall looked expectant, then prompted, "Proceed."

"You can try to talk normal," Sookie started saying, but then didn't understand why Heimdall stood up. "What's wrong?"

"I was not soliciting your derision."

"You have some pretty thin skin. I know English ain't your first language."

"Yet, it is yours. _Ain't_ it?"

"Ain't's in the dictionary, you know," Sookie corrected him.

"This conversation is not productive."

"What do you want to do then?"

"Do?"

"Yeah, like watch television or somethin'?"

"Why?"

"Didn't ya just say that's what'cha used to do with whoever used to live wit' ya?"

"It's hard to explain. You could not be him, Miss Stackhouse."

Exasperated, Sookie explained, "I don't know what ya want from me, Heimdall."

"You know I am old. I have already told you I enjoy quiet. You don't respect that or me, and your constant insults wear away at me. Since your insults are based on my physical attributes, which I do not share with Eric, perhaps it is better you become his."

"Yeah, and I said your skin's pretty thin. I didn't insult you."

"I concede you can label it as telling the truth. I will go now," he said, turning to leave.

"Wait," Sookie called, standing up. She had no idea what his problem was. Being around vampires for so long, scrambled his brain.

"Yes?"

Grabbing his upper arms, Sookie asked, "What is wrong with you?" She meant to give him a bit of a shake, but she ended up rattling her own body. His did not move.

He responded, "I am tired."

The way he said it felt like a stone plummeted into Sookie's stomach. Godric's attempt to forget why he wanted to meet the sun was not gone, only concealed in Heimdall.

"Sit back down," she demanded.

"Why?"

"Ya just said you were tired. Eric probably put you back to work as soon as you got back from Europe."

"Pam more than I. She's not in agreement with Eric and Chow over the new decor."

"Not enough lavender?"

"Color's not the problem. She would prefer concrete and industrial surfaces so the inside could be hosed down, and everything flow into grates in the floor. I'm not sure if Ginger was glamoured into agreeing or not."

"So she wants Fangtasia to look more like the basement?"

"Yes."

"What's your opinion?"

"I have no say in the matter."

"Never mind than. Sit."

Heimdall resumed his seat and Sookie sat next to him, or more like knelt on the sofa next to him. "What are you doing?"

"Did you do something with your hair?" she asked, as she ran her fingers through it. It was the same style, but someone had fixed the odd bits so it no longer looked like Heimdall's head got too close to a weed whacker.

"Pam took me to get it recolored and cut in London."

"Not Paris?"

"Pam shopped for herself in Paris. She preferred I procure new things in London."

"Hadley said you two went to Lourdes."

"We did. I don't think she enjoyed it."

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"Did you do anything with the water there?" Sookie asked.

"I touched some, but did nothing further."

"You didn't think it would help you?"

"I am vampire. My health is good."

"What about whatever happened to you while human?"

He murmured, "A wasteful way to spend a miracle."

"I don't understand. If you care about it enough to be insulted, then why not want it fixed?"

"Why? I am who I am. If I am hated for something so inconsequential, I am not the one at fault."

"You don't think I hate you, do you?"

"You are frequently angry," he countered.

"'Cause you vampires are all so high-handed and thinkin' you know best."

"Is this still about your driveway? If I solicited your opinion, it still would not be repaired yet. You would waste your time on something that I find trivial. It's pebbles laid out to make the surface smoother for vehicles."

"Yeah, it's trivial," Sookie agreed, "but you can't be doing things for me."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not right."

"I think it is. I am attempting to explain utilitarianism to Jessica. Sentient beings should want happiness. You don't?"

"I want to be happy, but also have a sense of accomplishment."

"Were you planning on fixing the driveway yourself? That would be time-consuming."

"No," Sookie argued. "You don't understand."

"I agree. I don't. We will soon have spent more time talking about your driveway than it took to actually fix it."

"That's not what I want to do. Thank you for the driveway, but next time, talk to me."

Heimdall nodded slightly. Sookie thanked him for something. He didn't feel any joy from her regarding the repair. He did not feel happiness from her at all. She was mainly worry. "Something is still wrong?"

"Not with you. I know ya ain't used to havin' to deal with someone like me so I'm probably makin' ya all confused."

"Someone like you?" he repeated. "You are right. I choose companions because they enjoy my company, and I enjoy theirs. May I go now?"

"No, you shouldn't leave angry at me."

"I am not angry."

"Than stay and enjoy my company."

"How can I? You have avoided telling me why Eric wanted me to call you."

"We already talked about it. I don't got medical insurance and got the bills from the hospital from Bill drainin' me. I was angry and called Eric because I wanted Bill to pay for it, but Eric told me that because I was Bill's, he could do whatever he wanted to me."

"True," Heimdall agreed.

"You see why I'm upset though?"

"With Bill Compton, not myself or Eric. When I drank deeply of your blood, I purposely did not feed to the point where you risked being turned. You may not have felt the difference."

"But ya still said I was yours."

"To keep you from being abducted by fairies."

"Holy shit! I forgot. Claudine gave me something for you."

"Silver?"

"No, it's some sort of letter," Sookie replied, jumping up and going up the stairs.

She couldn't believe she forgot about it. After she picked it up off her dresser and turned to go back downstairs, she jumped in surprise. Heimdall had followed her into her bedroom. Sookie hadn't even heard a creak on the stairs.

"Here it is," she said, holding it up.

Rather than immediately taking it, Heimdall looked at it and she saw his nostrils widen as he inhaled. "When did you see the fairy?"

"It's gotta be about a week now."

"Did she threaten you?"

"No, but she said she now knew who you were, and said this was a treaty from her boss."

He took a step back, and asked, "Please open it, but not towards your face."

The wax seal popped off in one piece, and Sookie unfolded it. She turned it over, but she couldn't read what was written.

"Please place it on a flat surface so I can read it, and wash your hands."

Even Sookie could smell something odd from the weird paper.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Chapter 6**

Heimdall was standing with his back to her, looking down at the missive from the fairies that she had left open for him on her dresser. In the mirror, she could see his hair was hanging in front of his face, but his fangs had emerged. Did Claudine or whatever fairy put something mean in that letter, or some kind of threat to her, Heimdall or Eric?

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

Tilting his head to the side, he was still overwhelmed by the intoxicating smell. He could stop breathing, but since there were no real fairies here, he could enjoy it. Sookie had a bit of it too, underneath the foul stench of her work clothes. Thinking was not easy. It was simple for him to believe that Sookie got this from her fairy. Why did they need to saturate it with this stench?

"It is good you smell of your workplace. I find that unattractive," he replied. He then said slowly while pointing at the message from the fae, "This … some sort of cover for it? See through, flat … plastic that can be sealed?"

"Is it making you sick?" Sookie asked, reaching for his face. He let her turn him towards her with just a hand on his cheek. Heimdall's eyes were half-closed and unfocused.

"Your clothes," he answered hoarsely. "They stink."

"Hold on," she replied. Sookie grabbed her robe and retreated to the bathroom for a quick shower. She even shampooed her hair to get the smell of Merlotte's off herself. Vampires and their noses. Bad enough Sookie smelt every dropped crumb when she had their blood.

When she walked back into the bedroom, after leaving her dirty clothes in the bathroom, Heimdall had moved away from her dresser and was in his squatting crouch near the window. His fangs were no longer visible.

"You're still here?" she asked.

"Shouldn't I be?" he asked, standing.

"Stay put. Wait, can't you put that letter in your bag?"

"Oil cloth is resistant, but I might have to get rid of it, if it retains the smell."

"It's that bad?"

"Sookie, vampires who are unaware of fairies should not smell that. It would also be difficult to explain to ones who do where I got that smell, since fairies chose to make themselves appear extinct because they do not like the way the world has changed."

"But for you personally, is it as bad as human food?" Sookie asked.

"Fairies smell enticing to vampires. It works both ways. Vampires are distracted by it and are susceptible to a fairy's attack, however if a fairy is not careful, a vampire can get the upper hand. I am concerned that this document was so strongly scented by them, and then given to you to deliver it."

"Why?"

"What good would such mischief do you? Even it if rendered me delusional, I am too strong to be near a human in that state. Likewise, what if a different vampire smelled it and investigated? They would probably not be able to read it unless they were at least eight centuries old and from Europe, but that paper could be worth much since so little effects our senses us that strongly."

"So you like the way it smells?"

"Not entirely. I have bad memories of fairies, and their scent does not change like a human's."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Humans do smell good, yet sometimes they reek."

"I have told you that your honesty can be too much at times, right?"

"Yes."

"As long as we're clear on that," Sookie kidded. She didn't want someone lying to her, but Heimdall could be tactless. Probably took an avalanche of blunt words to get through Eric's ego. "Let me go downstairs, and see if I have a Ziploc big enough for that to lay flat in."

Sookie was thinking on her way down the stairs that Gran probably did have the quart size, maybe even the thicker freezer kind. She was always saving food, and making big batches of the things that took a long time to cook and saving it in meal-sized portions. Sookie used to picture doing that for her family too. Growing tomatoes, making sauce, canning peaches and jams. No firm pictures of who would eat it, but she learned some skills from Gran and could be very happy keeping a house for her family. Just that the right guy for her at first seemed to be a vampire, who couldn't have children, and had her so brainwashed into thinking she wanted to marry him that that hadn't seemed important. Even at the end in Fangtasia when Bill talked about being normal, Sookie said nothing close to the truth. Yeah, she'd like to be a rich real estate agent, but how could she do that? Sell big tracts of open swamp land to developers so they could build strip malls and ugly developments like the one Eric lived in so Bon Temps would no longer be her Bon Temps? Sookie didn't want to leave Bon Temps, and planned to live her life in this house with her imaginary family.

Digging through the cabinet, Sookie was surprised that they came in a two gallon size. What was Gran going to save in something this big? If she was making something for one of her meetings, she'd make it fresh, since a couple gallons of anything would take up too much room in the freezer.

She went back in saying, "I got a one and two gallon size bags, but I may have to fold it over. I can do it with the writing facing out so you can read it still."

"All right," was the muttered reply. He was back to crouching by the window.

"Does sitting like that hurt your legs?"

"No."

"There is a chair in here."

"I used to do this before I was Godric. Eric got me to sit on furniture. I look impressive sitting with him standing behind me."

"Impressive?"

"It's hard for vampires to guess about vampires they don't know. Godric was social because Eric is."

"Don't you like company?" she asked.

"Not solely for the sake of hearing someone talk. I prefer quiet over noise."

"Do you tell Eric to shut up all the time?"

"No."

Sookie had noticed leaving the parchment flat would make it too long for even the two gallon bag so she folded it between a big space between two blocks of writing. That fit, and with it folded with the text out, Heimdall could still read it without opening the bag.

She brought it over and asked, "How's this?"

Heimdall's eyelids grew heavy, before he asked, "Is it sealed?"

"Not yet." Sookie slid the plastic zipper closed on top, then asked, "Better?"

His fangs clicking as they descended was not the answer Sookie wanted. He let his head angle forward, and Sookie noticed his chest rise and fall.

"Stop breathing," she suggested.

Heimdall caught hold of her free hand and brought it closer to his mouth. Sookie felt his cool lips and the front of his fangs brush against the back, along with the disturbed air from his unnecessary breathing. He then let go, stood up, and said, "I should leave."

"With werewolves and fairies out there? Maybe you should stay put till you feel better. You got a few hours till dawn, right?"

If Sookie didn't know better, she'd think she had a drunk teen swaying as he stood in her bedroom. He admitted, "Yes."

"Now that this is covered up, can I put it in your uh, shoulder bag?"

Heimdall nodded. Sookie's contaminated hand was already reaching for the strap to take it, and he followed its movement as she took it.

"All your secret vampire messages are delivered so I don't see anything?"

"There's nothing written. Eric tells me, and I repeat it."

"It's probably nicer when you repeat it," Sookie said. There was a few things in here, including some loose $20 bills and something flat wrapped in a padded case. "You shouldn't leave money out like this. I'll put it in this inside pocket."

He watched with half-closed eyes as Sookie's unclean hands touched everything in his bag. The whole thing was going to be polluted with the intoxicating scent of fairy.

Sookie put Heimdall's bag on a chair and suggested, "Maybe you should lie down."

When he knelt down on the floor, she clarified, "On the bed." She took hold of his arm to pull at him. Heimdall pulled it loose, but stopped his motion to hold her hand and look at it.

"Should I call Eric?"

"No need," he answered. "Why should I get on the bed?"

"It's more comfortable."

"Yet not necessary."

"I've seen you rest on a bed before," Sookie replied.

"That's Eric's fault. He dislikes resting in earth, and enjoys heated structures and indoor plumbing."

"And he still calls himself a Viking," Sookie kidded while pulling at Heimdall to get him up.

He allowed her to lead, but noticed the bed was inconveniently high. "Does the height of the furniture have something to do with vermin?"

"No," Sookie denied. "I like it. It reminds me when I was younger, and had trouble getting up onto a bed."

"Although sometimes it is good to be humbled with memories of weakness, why subject yourself to it when you are tired?"

Sookie realized he was asking a serious question, but his action of jumping onto the bed after peeling the velcro loose on his sandals and leaving them on the floor did not look like it.

"What are you doing?"

"I am hardly taller than you. Perhaps ten centimeters difference?"

"If you say so."

"You want me to lie here?"

"Yes."

Heimdall shifted, then commented, "Your bed has the metal springs still. You prefer them?"

"Uh … I guess."

"I find I don't like the noise."

"What do you like?" Sookie asked.

"The new foam's nice. I'm not sure what it really is. I remember feathers and straw, but they could get smelly if something other than vampires used them."

"Vampires don't smell?"

"They can, but our bodies don't exude wastes like live things."

Sookie clarified, "No one's done anything in that bed."

"I mean our skin does not sweat or have anything else coming out of it. We do have scents though. I can smell Eric and Pam, even if they are wearing something to cover it."

"Because you're related to them in a way?" Sookie asked, lying down on the other side of the bed, and facing Heimdall with her head propped up on her bent arm.

"No, because I smell other vampires. Some also wear the same scents over it so it's difficult to tell what is them or not. Stan had a major crisis when his favorite aftershave was discontinued."

"Do vampires shave?" Sookie had meant to ask Eric, but then she might have to admit she was looking through his bathroom the one day she had stayed at his house.

"They can. I don't."

Sookie touched his face with her fingers, inadvertently wafting fairy scent closer to his nose again. He closed his eyes as he breathed it in.

"Are you ever upset that you became a vampire so young?" Sookie was again wondering about his age. Did he not shave due to youth and developmental age at that point in history, or was it because his hormones were messed up because he had been mutilated?

"Not especially." Heimdall's current level of intoxication distracted him from his usual thoughts of how he had wished his human life had ended earlier, and what a royal fuck-up his maker had been to turn him by accidentally giving him too much vampire blood.

Sookie kissed his cheek. There was so much sadness in Heimdall. She supposed if Eric was the only one that could make him happy, it was okay for him to be here, but it seemed a waste that the one really good vampire that she met was hiding what he was.

Although he had been enjoying the disconnected feeling, Heimdall was suddenly wary and stopped breathing. What was Sookie doing? He had earlier entertained the thought that they could be something to each other like that, but he had been mistaken. She had cooperated in order to enlist his help to find Bill Compton.

She pulled back, and lay down, watching Heimdall. He was resting on his back with his eyes closed.

Heimdall felt her slip into sleep and resumed breathing. She was close enough that he could smell the fairy on her so he did not move closer or touch her.

It was still dark when Sookie woke, but Heimdall was sitting on the edge of the bed. He was no longer wearing clothes, and was talking in a language other than English.

She pulled the covers up and asked, "Eric?"

"It is only I, Sookie."

Sitting up, Sookie edged forward, asking, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Only one table lamp had been left on so the lighting was dim. She traced the creature on his back lightly with her finger, heading upwards to circle the round eye. "I heard you talking."

"Only to myself."

Her finger went up along the tattoo to his neck along what Sookie thought of as the creature's nose, but her eyes were drawn to the circle on his shoulder. 'H E 3'. Even now, it still looked red and painful. Rather than touching that, she touched the end of the necklace tattoo that ended above it. One little dangling spoke after another all the way around to the back side of his other shoulder. "May I ask what about?"

"You would. Always with the questions and demands. I am only a tool to you. What do you want to use me for next? Will you pester Jessica to find out if Bill is still alive, and demand I rescue him again? It's always taking with you. There is nothing for me here."

"That's not true."

"If Eric were not so obstinately loyal … I only have him. No one wants me for me, just because I've grown so old that I'm more powerful. You all want that. Not for any other reason."

"No, don't think that way. You got me. I'm yours now." Sookie punctuated that remark by putting her arms around him, and resting her head on his shoulder.

"It's only to protect you. I do not want to drink your blood and walk under the sun mimicking a human."

"I know."

"The treaty mentions Eric. He could protect you as well as I. You don't need me."

"I don't want Eric. I love you."

"That's my blood talking, not you."

"No, it's not. You're the only one that doesn't give me nasty dreams. They're confusing, but you don't go after me like a piece of meat."

"I do not see humans that way any more. That is how I lost any respect I had from other vampires."

"What about the equal rights amendment?"

Godric snorted, "That only helps my kind, not yours."

"But Russell said that it didn't help because you didn't see us as equals."

"Most don't. However, your kind is allowing us further legal rights to support us, while the amendment gives humans nothing, but the false sense that they are in control because they are granting them."

"But we would be," Sookie said, "if the amendment's passed. It's not false."

"Haven't you noticed what happens when vampires are informed something is illegal? Do they refrain from doing it?"

Sookie's first thought was Eric using a seat belt, but then remembered that he kept Lafayette chained up in his basement. "You're not like them," she said, more as reassurance to herself. She knew Heimdall could be vicious, yet she felt he showed restraint and only used force when necessary to protect others.

"I learned to forgive. That may be a mistake."

"No, it's not. That's what I love about you."

"You take advantage of that flaw. Repeatedly."

"Because I can trust you."

"Your inconsiderate treatment wounds me."

"I'm sorry. I had my head up my ass over Bill. You knew it, and told me and I ignored you."

He remained silent over her confession. Sookie pressed herself against him and tried to push herself onto his lap while kissing him.

"We shouldn't try this again," he warned.

"No, I shouldn't have hurt your feelings over that. It was wrong."

"Everyone does. I shouldn't bother. I should go now."

Heimdall stood up, and Sookie tried to grab at him.

She became disoriented when she found herself lying on her side, still under the covers. Heimdall was lying on his side facing her, with clothes on, on top of the covers, and asked, "Bad dream?"

"Huh?"

"I noticed your eyelids moving when you became restless."

"I guess I was dreaming," Sookie agreed. She should have known it was a dream because he had his old tattoos, and even though his hair was long, it was one color. She shifted closer to him.

"Did you want me to get up? My back is already at the edge of the bed."

"No, hold me. Talk to me a bit before dawn."

"I need to leave before that."

"Okay. Hold me," she insisted while putting an arm over him.

"What's wrong?"

"I trust you."

"With what?"

"Me." Sookie kissed his lips, but Heimdall did not kiss her back.

"You should not let a dream decide that."

"I'm not. You try to protect me, even when I'm doing something stupid."

"What are you planning on doing next?"

"Going to sleep in your arms."

"Is something wrong?" he asked again.

"I've hurt you."

Heimdall agreed, "Yes."

Sookie had not been looking for agreement. She accepted it quietly. It was too dark in here to make out the blue of Heimdall's eyes as he looked into hers till she fell back asleep.

It was daylight when Sookie woke again. Of course, Heimdall was not there, yet he must be around somewhere because his bag was still on the chair, along with his clothes. His sandals were paired up in front of it. Did he find the hidey hole in her old bedroom closet that Bill made? She went and looked, but if he was in it, he wouldn't have been able to put the stuff back on top of the trap door, would he? She knew he had some sort of vampire special power, but doubted he could get through the trap door without opening it.

She went back to his things. Unlike Heimdall apparently, she knew Eric would not be happy that his cell phone was still in the front pocket of his shorts. Was that his way of showing Eric who was really boss? Sookie guessed Eric already knew that.

The letter from Claudine was still in the Ziploc. Sookie opened the padded case, and saw it had his book reading thing inside. His money was still in the inside pocket too. There was no blank paper or pens in the bag so she went down to the kitchen where there was some near where the phone used to be. That's where Gran kept them, and Sookie hadn't moved them. No note there. She looked over the living room, and then checked the outside of both doors. Nothing.

Okay, so he was sort of treating her like he did Eric. He avoided carrying a cell phone and leaving a note. She wrote her own note to put on top of his things - _Heimdall, I'm not sure where you are resting. Call me at Merlotte's 318-637-5688 when you get up to let me know you're OK. Sookie_

She then added '_Yours,' _in front of her name as an afterthought. Something was wrong with Heimdall, and she didn't like it. Sookie knew he could be self-destructive. How did she get into this mess?

It didn't help that Claudine stopped in for lunch. Another veggie burger, and a couple questions about Sookie and her health before getting down to business in between waiting on her other tables.

"I gave it to him."

"Did your vampire seem interested?"

"We don't talk much," Sookie responded. It was sort of the truth.

"He is pleasant company?" Claudine inquired.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but he doesn't got a fiery temper like other vampires."

"Either you wash well, or he does not have much of a distinctive odor, even to me."

"We do do other things," Sookie explained. "I'm working a lot of hours, and get tired."

"That is odd. Usually vampires enjoy the fawning so much they keep their humans up till dawn."

"Maybe that's the problem. You go judging him without knowing him."

"So you know him?"

"I didn't say that, but you're generalizing when clearly ya know he's got a different way about him. And by the way, he was not happy about how much that piece of paper smelled."

"Interesting. I thought he was resistant to fairies that night. He did not like it?"

"He was worried another vampire could smell it on me," Sookie explained.

"Oh, that they could find out we were dealing with him?"

"No, because he doubted hardly anyone could read it, but the smell would be a problem."

"I apologize. Your lover makes a good point."

Sookie was not sure if Claudine was trying to get information out of her regarding that. She never claimed Heimdall was her lover.

"Is that why he did not return it to you?"

"I don't know. I just put it in a Ziploc for him."

"How did he act after smelling it?"

"Like I said, he said it could have brought me trouble," Sookie replied. It was none of Claudine's business that it made Heimdall sick. She guessed if she was tortured like he was in that dream while smelling that, he wasn't going to feel well. Sookie tried to think of smells that she found unpleasant, like uncle Barlett's cologne. She'd never forget it, and was lucky it was not something anyone wore anymore.

Hours after Claudine was on her way back to Dillard's, Sam mentioned while she was picking up her drink order, "Heimdall called and said he's fine."

She glanced at the phone behind the bar, and the receiver was hung up. "What?" she asked.

Sam reiterated slowly, "Heimdall called. He said you asked him to call here. His message was he's fine."

"Yeah, I did ask him to call, but I thought he'd ask for me."

"Perhaps he thought you couldn't take personal calls at work."

"Sam," Sookie protested. He was right, and it wasn't like with Arlene. Her kids sometimes had emergencies, and that was different.

"What? He was very brief and to the point with me. Maybe he doesn't like talking on the phone, cher. Did he have to get into some fight for you that you were asking that he was okay?"

"No, there wasn't any fight with anybody, not even me. It's just that I don't understand him."

"I suppose if I said he's a vampire, you'd get mad a me?" Sam asked.

"Vampires are people, Sam."

"Alright, alright. What about me suggesting you might rely too much on your gift, and that makes it hard to tell what the few people that don't tell you things without words mean."

"Not everyone thinks their deepest secrets," Sookie pointed out. "Most of the time, I'm not listening, or I'd be overwhelmed with a ton of boring stuff like 'pick up milk' and 'got to do my laundry'."

"Just be careful. You might see it as a blessing, but I bet you that there's a whole bunch more Bills out there among that lot."

"I know. At least Heimdall's not the least bit ambitious."

Sam laughed, "And that's a good quality?"

"After Bill, yes."

"Wait, are you interested in him like that?"

Sookie immediately picked up the clear thought from Sam of 'rebound' with some negative connotations. Probably about her, not Heimdall, since there was finally someone who respected Sam's rule about personal calls at work, unless it was life or death.

"Not quite. It's difficult to explain, Sam."

"Why? 'Cause he goes to France with someone else?"

"No, not that," Sookie replied. She would have liked to have been asked at least. Maybe she could go on another trip to … somewhere. Anywhere. Once her bills were paid off, and she didn't need to work so much. Traveling with Bill to Dallas was not a huge trip, but being on an airplane for the first time and staying at a swanky hotel were a big treat for her.

For the most of the night, Sookie spent time thinking about what she wanted. Her dream of living in Gran's house the rest of her life, a family with children, but no potential father in her current prospects at the age of twenty-six. No nieces or nephews, which was good since Jason was no one's husband, and not likely to be soon, with Jason's last girlfriend stealing his truck. She'd be a waitress the rest of her life, gradually becoming the kind that wore orthopedic shoes and snapped gum while she took orders to still pay for her medical bills. Gradually, it became a joke in her head, and she imagined how she'd look at Fangtasia, like some crabby diner waitress, and she couldn't forget the lunch lady hair net.

"What's so funny?" Jessica asked. Sookie was not wearing her professional waitress smile as she blocked out thoughts, but a real one.

"Nothing much, just thinking of how unattractive I could look if I took Eric up on his offer of health insurance and worked at his stupid club."

Jessica's eyebrows raised, before she said, "I thought him offering to cover Merlotte's employees was a good idea."

"Not if we got to work for him."

"Well, I don't got a choice because I can't afford to not work at Fangtasia. I will get to meet other vampires. I'm just worried about the vampire haters. They burnt a cross and spray painted Bill's house."

Sookie frowned and replied, "There was a lot of rude things spray painted outside Fangtasia."

"Hoyt's gonna go with me a couple nights to check it out."

"That's good," Sookie agreed. At least Jessica did not treat Hoyt like it was private vampire stuff. There had to be a better way than the way it was with Bill, living in blissful ignorance, dreaming about some future life that was so different than what she originally wanted because his blood made her think that. Now that she could remember her old hopes, what did it mean? Was Bill dead? Or did Heimdall's blood finally overpower his? Why would his blood let her think her old thoughts, when she couldn't with Bill's?

Overall, it was not a good night for tips. Sookie got her job done, but she had a lot of things on her mind. Luckily, it wasn't Friday after a football game, or she would've kicked herself. She threw her tip money on the kitchen table when she got home. It had become a habit to count it while she unwound with a iced or sweet tea after work. Tonight was iced. She wasn't in the mood for sweet. It was silly worrying about things she couldn't help when she should be working for every dollar in tips. Each dollar she earned would get her a dollar closer to paying off these damned bills.

She turned off the lights downstairs and went up to take a shower. Going into her room for a nightshirt, she saw Heimdall lying on her bed, same side as last night, dressed, with his sandals over by the chair and his bag still on it.

"I suppose you couldn't let me know you were here?"

He kept his eyes closed as he answered, "I could have. Do you want me to in the future?"

"If you could, yeah. When you called earlier, did you tell Sam you were still here?"

"No."

"I guess you want me to wash the unattractive smell of greasy food off me?"

"Yes, please."

"And if I don't?" she challenged.

"It is your choice, Miss Stackhouse."

Since that wasn't an argument, she asked, "Do you need anything before I hop in the shower?"

"No, thank you."

When Sookie had one of her better nightgowns in hand with her bathrobe, she asked, "Why are you here?" If she knew that, it would stop her from speculating for her entire shower.

"I have to be somewhere."

"Did you rest in my house during the day?"

"No, outside. I removed my clothes so they wouldn't get dirty."

Okay, not really an answer what he was doing here. Sookie gave herself a laugh thinking that with another vampire she could have rescinded his invitation during the day and might have left him standing outside, dirty in his underwear.

She was not going to take a quick shower every night for him though, she thought to herself as she noticed every step she skipped. It was still shorts at Merlotte's for at least another month. Being blond did not mean she didn't shave.

Reentering her bedroom, Sookie said, "All right, I'm back."

Heimdall did not move or say anything in response. Sookie turned on her bedside lamp, and turned off the others. She got on the bed and asked, "Are you still sick?"

"I'm not sick."

"Still tired?"

"Yes."

"Did you just want me to lay down and go to sleep?"

"If you're also tired."

Sookie pulled the covers down, slipped her robe off, put it over the foot of the bed, and got situated. Looking at Heimdall, he was still lying on his back with his eyes closed. He was looking deceptively young.

Not quite tired, Sookie thought perhaps she could practice doing things the right way. Maybe the next time she got a boyfriend, she'd notice when every sane thought left her head. "Do you like children, Heimdall?"

His eyes opened as he answered with an accompanying glare, "No."

"Oh, I didn't realize that. You played Wii when I asked you."

"My reply meant I do not find children appetizing to feed from, not that I will not attempt to play their games."

Sookie grimaced and said, "No, I didn't mean the blood preference. I was curious since vampires cannot have children."

"Our procreation differs from humans, but is not so different. Even though they appear adult, we still need to teach them their new way of life."

"You make it sound like you're a different species."

"Aren't we?"

"You start human."

"Most do," he replied, closing his eyes again.

"So you don't dislike children socially?"

"I suppose I don't. The problem is when they mistake me for a human. Now it's easier for me just to say I am vampire. They know what that is now."

"Why is it a problem?"

"Never mind. It's not a problem now."

"Did you ever want to have children?"

"Human? No."

"Why not?"

Heimdall rolled onto his side to get closer and looked directly into Sookie's eyes, before asking, "Why would I?"

"I mean before … you were hurt."

"I was hurt because I was a slave. Four-legged livestock were more valuable than I."

There was an imagined ripple through Sookie's chest. She remembered he mentioned this briefly when he was carrying on after having Maryann's blood. "You're valuable," Sookie asserted, putting her hands on either side of his face.

"Why do you say that?" he asked slowly.

Well, shit. What was she supposed to say to that? Sookie had enough hints on what annoyed him. Telling him that he helped others by killing maenads and ancient, crazy vampires was not what he wanted to hear. "I need you."

"When I first met you, and we were on the roof of the Hotel Carmilla, that is what I thought you meant, that the weight of all my years did not need to weigh on me so heavily, but that does not appear to be the case."

"I didn't mean in the romantic sense in Dallas, but you're still the best vampire I've ever met. I don't want to lose you."

He did not respond. Heimdall wanted Sookie to explain herself without prompting from him. Usually she continued talking to fill silences.

"I can't lose you, no matter what you want to change your name to."

Not sure what was the partial lie in her statement, he let her continue.

"Heimdall," Sookie said, giving him a brief kiss on the lips, "Godric," followed by another kiss, "or whatever your real name is, you have suffered more than anyone I know, and you don't deserve that."

His blood let him know that she felt that was the truth. Sookie did not know him. He deserved it all, and more.

Sookie kissed him again, pressing her lips to his, waiting for him to respond.

This is what Eric had been telling him, since he would not convert to his child's faith. The idea of Valhalla was comforting, being with Eric there by his side once they both met the true death, not spending eternity alone in torment, but than he'd have to believe in Ragnarok also. The world itself was going to end, and it would happen no matter how valiantly they fought against it. He'd rather be fatalistic regarding something as insignificant as his own life, rather than the entire world. Everything in existence meant nothing, rather than him alone. That was not something he could believe.

Unthwarted, Eric wanted him to give up the ideas of Christianity, penance, punishment for his sins, and live for today. Go back when he was serious about utilitarianism. As long as he hurt no one, made others happy, he could be happy. When it came to something like Russell Edgington, the choice was simple. Russell caused widespread misery and would continue to do so. Russell only made Russell happy, and the happiness of others outweighed that.

What would cause the greatest happiness here? Should he let Sookie keep kissing him? Was this a trick? That would make her happy. Damned fairy. There was the possibility of momentary happiness for him. To believe this was real long enough to enjoy something. He already knew this was not motivated by her true feelings so it would not hurt like it did last time.

Sookie felt foolish till Heimdall's cool lips softened under hers, gently kissing her back. Last time, he had slowly kissed all the way up her arm, and it felt like he was taking his time again. Her tongue did not gain entrance into his mouth until he allowed it. His fangs were not out either. Rather than Bill's needy passion, coupled with feeding on her blood, Heimdall was gratifying tenderness. A shared feeling deliberately explored between two people.

Removing one hand from his face, Sookie attempted to move things along by pulling on the lower part of his shirt to get some more skin bared. It wasn't working. She pulled back to get to work on his belt. It was fastened too tight to get a hand onto any skin, above or beneath.

This time his hands cupped her face and pulled her lips back to his. Sookie was confused. Were they only going to kiss? Was he afraid to let her touch him again? She tried to tell him that she hadn't agreed with Yvetta. Sookie was upset at the time, and wasn't paying that much attention to Yvetta. She was happy to get out of that basement.

"Heimdall ..." she tried to say with his tongue between her teeth. When she had withdrawn from his mouth to speak, his tongue had followed hers into her mouth.

"Hmm?" he replied, pulling his mouth away, rolling them both over so Sookie was on her back, with her nightgown getting pushed up past her neck then pulled over her head. Okay, that was more like it, except he was sitting on her thighs looking thoughtful, rather than kissing or getting undressed. He wasn't even touching her anywhere. His hands were resting palm down on his shorts with the tightly cinched belt.

Sookie had to stretch her arms to touch his bare knees. She then propped herself up on her elbows to look at him impatiently.

A leg lifted and Heimdall shifted himself to kneel on the bed, rather than on top of her. When he came to rest, continuing to stare at her, and did nothing further, Sookie asked, "What's wrong?"

"Something is wrong?"

"You're just sitting there."

"You find this unacceptable?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," he answered, and Sookie noticed he looked away from her and down at his hands, which were back to resting on his thighs. Heimdall sat patiently, waiting for Sookie. He could sense her confusion. She proclaimed she was irresistible to vampires. Did she truly believe that? What made her think that - Bill's lies, or her own self-awareness of being part-fairy?

Sookie sat up. Something had ruined the mood for Heimdall, and she was not sure what it was. He had taken off her nightgown, then stopped. That wasn't flattering. She put a hand on his then realized it was not that she was undressed, but that Heimdall was still wearing all his clothes.

Heimdall didn't want to anger Sookie. This woman was a stew of emotions. Females were always a problem. A partially fairy female seemed worse because the negative feelings were in the forefront. Reactionary anger gave way to sadness. Sadness alone. Maybe some pity. He put his other hand over hers to see if that cleared things up. Not really. Still sad, with an increase in the pity. She already knew he was pitiful, yet she wasn't happy about it. If he was thwarting her plan to mock him than the anger would still be present. Sharing blood with women was worthless. Their emotions flitted all over because they were unable to concentrate and think clearly. Sookie may not even be thinking of him at all. She could be sad over the whiter rocks instead of the yellowish ones outside in her driveway.

She shifted to her get closer and ran her hands up his arms and slipped her fingers into the short sleeves of his thick cotton, black t-shirt. Her lips touched his, and she murmured, "Please, Heimdall."

He looked into her eyes.

"Please," Sookie repeated. "Tell me what you're in the mood for."

An odd request. Heimdall shyly suggested, "Turn off the light."

Heimdall had not moved while she turned off the lamp. When she turned to run a hand over his cool skin, he was no longer wearing any clothes. Okay, lights off before the clothes came off till Heimdall got over what Yvetta said. She felt his lips touch hers to resume their kissing. Sookie was kept waiting for long seconds, maybe even minutes, before he allowed her to enter his mouth again. Her fingers were the only ones crawling around during the wait to reintroduce her tongue to his.

She could not believe how long he could prolong this. Clutching his shoulders, while keeping her mouth to his, Sookie pulled herself on top of him as best she could. His fangs weren't out, and his body was not exhibiting any sign that he was willing to do more than kiss. She could feel that, and let go of one of his shoulders to take care of that problem.

Their kiss broke off, and Heimdall nudged Sookie off of his lap. He lay down on his back, and when she did not take the initiative, guided her head downwards, away from his face.

Sookie remembered what he requested last time. She couldn't then because it would have been cheating on Bill. What an idiot she was. Was she being an idiot now? What was the right thing to do – do it, or not do it?

She tentatively kissed his skin near his waist. He didn't taste of dirt, and smelled of her soap. Okay, Heimdall showered after sleeping in the ground. Point in his favor there. Another point was the way he stroked her hair, without pushing her further south. Heimdall was also rubbing one of his feet softly against her skin. His other hand brushed her face.

Undecided, Sookie attempted to imitate Heimdall and kissed his skin, working her way up his smooth chest. It turned out she got more turned on than he did, especially when her hands roamed down to cup, then grip his rear. Tired of waiting, she worked her way back down his body at a faster pace and acceded to the desire Heimdall had previously voiced.

Sookie did not find it repulsive, and enjoyed the flexing of his leg muscles as she coaxed Heimdall into arousal with her mouth. His hands still rested in her hair and on her face. His fingers were tracing her eyebrows dreamily. He did not object when one of her hands found a uneven bumpy line of scar tissue underneath. She felt embarrassed because she had fingered it trying to figure out what she was touching in the dark. Safer to stick to rubbing his butt.

Knowing Heimdall did not rush this last time, and certainly seemed in no hurry tonight, Sookie was unsure if he was even close, since all she had to go on was he had gotten hard. He was too quiet.

She was beginning to think he wasn't thinking about her when she heard a click. Sookie guessed it was his fangs. It was more than a minute before he vocalized something, and grabbed her under her arms pulling her up, and then rolling her on her back. Sookie protested briefly when he hooked her knees over his arms because his next move was unexpected. Heimdall entered her quickly, and rocked against her, pushing against her trapped thighs each time. Sookie was pinned in place, due to his strength, not his weight.

Her preference was being on top, but Heimdall was doing something right. Maybe it was the anticipation that got Sookie all worked up. Perhaps he knew this positioning worked well for his partner. He only paused briefly when Sookie yelped, and attempted to dig her fingernails into the backs of his elbows.

Heimdall moved his hands to her chest to knead her breasts and tease her nipples. She was twitching because he resumed moving in her, while she was still sensitive from her first orgasm. Sookie wasn't trying to ignore him, but the second time happened faster.

There was a responding noise while he held himself mostly in place, sliding his hands to her sides to grip her hips. Sookie felt his body spasm against her, then quiet.

She tried to shift to a more comfortable position when he did nothing further, but couldn't, then he asked quietly, "More?"

"Uh … I … I mean only if you're not … did you?"

"Yes," he replied, pulling back, and allowing Sookie's feet to descend.

Sookie was sort of boneless as he moved her to get her under the covers, joining her. His legs tangled with hers, and he shifted downward to put his head against her shoulder before putting an arm around her.

She got a hand free and roved over his face before running her fingers through his hair.

Author's Note: I was only following CH's lead. Sookie's obsessed with tanning, grooming and shaving. I would have taken the shaven legs and underarms for granted. :^)


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Chapter 7**

When Sookie woke, Heimdall was no longer there. Neither were his things on the chair. Again, there was no note anywhere. Why did she ever expect something different from vampires?

It was a pleasant surprise when she was getting ready for work when her cell phone rang. She didn't recognize the number on the display, but when she answered it, it was a delight to hear Heimdall's voice say, "Hello, Sookie."

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yes, and you?"

"Yeah. Why are you calling?"

"I was under the impression I should."

"Well, I guess … yeah, but it's daytime."

"I do not mind staying awake to talk to you."

"Um, okay."

There was an awkward silence, and Sookie said, "You called me."

"Yes, shouldn't I have?"

"Yes, you should, if you're awake and … why are you calling?"

"What is normally discussed?" he asked.

"I've only dated one person, and he was a vampire."

"Ah … perhaps we could discuss the next time we will see each other? Is that an appropriate topic?"

"Yeah," Sookie agreed.

"I think Eric has some errands for me tonight, but I can go to Bon Temps last, if you are working till Merlotte's closes. Fangtasia will be reopening soon, so I do not know if I will have as much time to take whole nights off."

"Tell Eric I need you."

"If I said something so atypical, he would grow concerned."

"What makes that atypical?"

After a moment, Heimdall answered, "Because I do not say things like that."

"You don't have to say that."

"You have not reconsidered working for Eric once a week? Do you have a slow night at Merlotte's that Sam could spare you, or your tips are not good?"

"I don't think I'd like working for Eric," Sookie admitted.

"Very well. I am supposed to pick nights I would prefer staying in Shreveport to work in the club. Pam has said there are less humans earlier in the week."

"What will Eric have you do, wait tables?"

"No, due to my age, I am limited to performing, in order to stay later in the evening. It is a confusing law, and should not apply to vampires. We cannot work during the day, and I do not attend school."

"Have you thought of that?"

"Thought of what?" he asked.

"Maybe going to school. You're pretty smart."

There was another pause before he replied, "That is kind of you to say, Sookie, but I am not."

"You read a lot and know a lot of languages that I don't."

"It's not what it appears. I do not learn them quickly, unless I know a similar one first."

"I think you're smart, and would do wonderful at school."

"You are mistaken. Why don't you go to school to learn other skills for a different job that pays better?"

"No, I couldn't concentrate. I'd probably be better at it now. When I was younger, I heard everyone else in my head."

"Perhaps I should ask Eric to check Jessica's education level. She seems bright."

"I think Jessica was home schooled," Sookie said.

"She cannot go to other schools then?"

"There's no paperwork."

"I … there's no testing to make sure they are being taught … reading? Or parents keep their children home for religious reasons and they grow up illiterate? That seems counter-productive."

"Why would she need to go to school? Jessica's a vampire."

Heimdall did not respond, so Sookie asked, "Still there?"

"Yes."

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't think I'm understanding what this conversation is regarding. Why would you want me to go to school to learn things, but not Jessica? We are both vampires. She would probably have an advantage since she understands more of how … things work. I also don't have paperwork, and I was not schooled at home."

"It's not that. I think you're selling yourself short. You could probably even teach some things at a college. Like history or a language you're really good at."

"Not me. I'm from Texas, and we're not sure where before that."

"You two are ridiculous. You don't need to spend any time thinking about where Heimdall came from. Why don't you just write a book and stick Eric's name on it? He's still lived long enough to complain about some plague."

"There were multiple plagues, but I don't think either of us is an expert on disease."

"Heimdall?"

"Yes?" he replied.

"You're pissing me off."

"I should not have called?"

"No, but sometimes when I try to have a real conversation with you about what you could be doing, you get so pig-headed."

"What do you want me to do? If you could tell me the goal, perhaps I can see another path to reach it, besides going to school."

Sookie audibly sighed, "It's not just me, even Chow told you to learn something. You're not going to be living in Eric's shadow for long, so why not take the time while you're on vacation or whatever you're doing to improve some skill of yours, like maybe a business class, so you can own some business after you leave Eric."

"I have made money owning businesses, but I don't understand the rest. Eric takes care of that. He always has."

"What kind of business have you owned?"

"In Dallas? I owned a 24 hour laundromat, and that was a pre-Revelation meeting place for our kind. Even vampires need clean clothes. I owned it till I left. That is close to fifty years, and it always made money."

"How did Eric help you with that?" A laundromat was not Fangtasia.

"With the money part, where to put it so it made more money. My day man talked to his day man, and they moved it based on what Eric said. I earned more with that than anything else. I don't understand it, and Eric kept saying it was not illegal."

Sookie remembered Bobby Burnham thinking about Eric was gifted when it came to investing, and that he must be involved with some vampire network to make them all rich. If Eric was in it, why wasn't Godric? They must be doing something illegal along the way, that's why, and Eric lied when Godric asked. Eric was such a low-down sneak.

"Maybe you shouldn't follow whatever Eric does," she said. Sookie couldn't accuse Eric of lying and stealing unless she knew more about it.

"Why not? It works with finding money too. He's gifted."

If Heimdall were here, she'd wrap her fingers around his throat. Like Eric needed more flattery to make his fat head swell up. Gifted. More like the special ed kind of gifted.

Heimdall asked, "Are you doing some dental maintenance in preparation to leave for work?"

"What?"

"You were making a noise I could not readily identify."

Sookie's mouth puckered up. Of course she made some noise while trying to keep vomit from coming up. Heimdall calling Eric gifted. Sweet Lord. "Yeah, I was uh … trying to floss. I'm sorry. I gotta go."

"Enjoy your afternoon at work."

"Get some rest," Sookie returned.

"I will. Thank you."

Okay, so her … well, the vampire that claimed her, and that she had sex with last night gave Sookie her very first 'next day' phone call. That was somewhat normal. Although never having gotten one before, she was not sure they talked about the right things. Were they supposed to compliment each other on their bedroom skills? Wait, was Heimdall hinting he expected sex again tonight because he was planning on coming to Bon Temps last tonight? That was presumptuous. Besides, he did nothing to define their real relationship, other than saying that she was his to scare off fairies. And handling her being a moron when she needed money, but wouldn't take Bill's car, and then got her driveway repaired because Sookie kept telling Eric that's what she was going to do. Maybe she should have mentioned she needed someone to take down that big tree near the house that got its roots lifted out of the ground last winter during an ice storm. It was leaning towards the house now, and might get worse, if the weather got bad.

Sookie calmed down. Heimdall had not said that. She'd give him a chance later, rather than flying off the handle. Maybe they could talk about other things they could do together. Did she even know what he liked to do? When she went to Eric's house, she found out he listened to music, doodled with markers, read and liked swimming naked. He also watched movies with another human who was with him for years, or at least long enough to watch the same movie eight times on television, probably before cable.

That was difficult to conceive of. A human being with the same vampire for many years. The vampire not physically aging, while the human did. Sookie could imagine Godric wouldn't mind an aging friend. What would it have been like with Bill and her? Or Sophie-Anne, if the original plan was followed? Even Eric? Eric and Bill were at least a bit older when turned, unlike Godric and Sophie-Anne.

Then Sam bothered her at work. Seems Eric's guy for the benefits was trying to get their information together, and Sam wanted Sookie to give it a try, rather than complaining she didn't have benefits to vampires, and then blowing a raspberry in their faces when they tried to help her. She thought she had a valid argument by mentioning Lafayette, but immediately regretted it as soon as she said it because no one knew Lafayette had been hurt. However, Sam responded that Lafayette had signed up. What the fuck?

Actually, that's exactly what she asked as she went through the Merlotte's kitchen door, "What the fuck, Lafayette? You're going to Fangtasia to work for Eric?"

Lafayette's hand made a flourish around his face, and he commented, "You see this, hooker? It's a work of art. Rather than getting my pores steamed over a pot of oyster stew, I'm gonna put it out there."

"What's your new boyfriend think of that?"

Actually it was Jesus' encouragement that gave Lafayette the courage. He wasn't sure he wanted Jesus trying some sort of mojo hocus pocus on Eric, but he was a big boy and could face his fears, and also get closer to the object featured in his nightly dreams. Dreams of Eric were nothing like Eddie's. Besides, Eric had come by his house, and asked him if he wouldn't mind dancing since his boy, Heimdall, needed some help, and he thought Lafayette was the best, or at least the most enthusiastically uninhibited dancer he had ever seen. Eric offered him more money to dance one night a week than he made cooking for Sam for five. If he could be a rude, motherfucking bastard all the time, Lafayette could tell him to shove it up his ass, or even go along with it to mess with that little muffin of his. This way, he got medical insurance that the parish wouldn't even pay for for their road crew. Thought they were fucking disposable, like the good ol' days when they had prisoners do it on the chain gang.

"Don't go gettin' all jealous of my man. He likes me being able to bring home the bacon, and fry it up in the pan too."

"I meant does he know you get those dreams?"

"Like you don't?"

"Isn't he jealous?"

"Listen up, my man knows he gots me, right there in his arms. And them dreams sometimes gives me some brilliant ideas. And since their my dreams, it's all me, baby."

"You're not afraid Eric's gonna throw you in the basement again?"

"No, 'cause I finally told him it was your dumbass brother that kidnapped the vampire he was lookin' for. That motherfucker's lucky to have you for a sister, or that motherfucker would have ripped him apart." Now look, hooker's got him worried if he slips around Eric's twinkie now. Still too fucking good for that motherfucker. The only one right for Eric was Pam. They fucking deserved each other.

"That wasn't completely Jason's fault."

"Oh, so he blames becomin' a fuckin' addict on me?" Lafayette challenged. Jason Stackhouse was a lazy ass piece of shit and he only got to be supervisor because he was white. Now, he was going to blame his ass that he took V and kidnapped and killed a vampire, and his hick sister was backing him up? He let her have it, "Yeah, Jason's got a disease all right, same as you. It's called inbreedin' makin' the both of y'all dumb as hammers."

"I know you don't mean that, Lafayette," Sookie insisted. She was getting a tangle of stuff from Lafayette. He was still afraid of Eric, but wanted to look brave for Jesus.

"Stop tryin' to figure out what I mean, and listen to what people say for once, girl. You're the fuckin' dumbass that got drained and took that fucker back in a heartbeat."

"That's over now, Lafayette."

"Yeah, till he blows in from wherever and comes in here orderin' another Tru Blood, lookin' at ya all dark and broodin' then tells you how sorry he is, and your little shorts get wet lookin' at him."

"Lafayette!" Sookie protested.

"Face it, girl. You've had his blood. I've had blood too. You think I don't know what that does? I don't know up from down sometimes, and that's only from one time. If I had fuckin' medical insurance, I never would'a tasted it. How's that sound to ya, or you still tryin' to figure out what I really mean?"

"Will you two keep it down?" Sam yelled. "We got customers waitin' for their orders."

Sookie got back to work, but felt Lafayette's thoughts simmering the rest of the night. Hostility towards her, Bill, Eric, Pam and Jason. Worry about Jesus, and a little over Heimdall. What had Heimdall done for Lafayette? Heimdall better not be messing around with her friend. She wouldn't put up with that shit.

After all that, Sookie accidentally picked up that Terry was seriously thinking about marrying Arlene to get her on the better medical insurance with Eric. Arlene had a low income plan from the state that pretty much just kept them from dying. From what he read, Arlene should have better prenatal care. Good God, like Arlene would let any husband of hers near vampires.

When Jason came in, he wanted to know if she picked up on anyone seeing his truck or Crystal. He still didn't get how her telepathy worked. If Jason could hide that he killed some vampire and Eggs from her picking up instantly, than Sookie couldn't be all-knowing with her telepathy. Besides, most of the time, she wasn't trying to listen.

After the dinner rush, Holly slipped her the business card of some woman that was new in town, Shreveport that is, not Bon Temps, that she thought could help Sookie straighten out her life. Yeah, Marnie the palm reading psychic, had all the fucking answers in the world. She probably didn't know jack shit about vampires, werewolves, shifters, maenads, fairies and whoever else was going bump out there. By 'out there', it meant between Sookie's house and Merlotte's. More weird ass shit happening in this little strip of Louisiana along Hummingbird Road than the fucking Bermuda Triangle.

The only advice Sookie needed was to stay away from vampires. Pity was every time she thought she got that firmly in her head, she went and fucked one. No wonder why everyone thought she was crazy, and also suicidal, for not getting medical insurance, any way she could. Yup, she was Crazy Sookie before meeting vampires, and Crazy Sookie the Fangbanging Slut after meeting them. Maybe she was better off being a virgin. At least her craziness was blamed on a birth defect.

Sam gave her a bit of a growl when she picked up drink refills. When she looked around, she noticed Heimdall was sitting in the corner of the bar, away from the pick-up window, towards the pool table. He must have sneaked in while she was trying to get ahead of her prep work for later, filling the salt and pepper shakers.

While she was serving, Sam was talking to him. She wondered what kind of shit Eric sent over as a message now. Eric was such an asshole using Heimdall like this.

Great, Jessica was smiling, and floating around Hoyt. Her boyfriend could have a couple extra beers when he stayed till closing because Jessica could drive them home. Why couldn't it have been like that with Bill? He could come in late, order a Tru Blood, wait for her to get off, and then they'd have a couple hours together before she got tired. Why'd he'd have to be such a lying sack of shit?

Sookie circled back to the bar and hissed, "Sam, you don't have to do anything for Eric."

"What the hell are you talking about, Sook? I like his idea about us going a Saturday after work before Fangtasia opens. Your antenna must be bent or something."

"Us? What?" Sookie said.

"Not you, your colleagues here that are interested in working in Shreveport."

"What's your problem then?"

"I don't really have a problem 'cept I know you've had this vampire's blood, and he's hidin' over there because he knows you're angry."

Sookie asked, "What business is it of yours if I had his blood?"

"If it's to save your life after Bill drained you and left you for dead, I might think it's nice someone cared, but if you're going jump down a guy's throat for that, I'll keep it in mind you don't appreciate little things like that. You have been a PMS'in' bitch ever since Bill dumped you, and you're blamin' everyone for your problems but you and him."

"You … I dumped Bill. He did not dump me," Sookie clarified, angry that Heimdall was whining to Sam.

"Whatever. At least you didn't end up pregnant too."

Holly advised, "That's discrimination," on her way past.

"I am just countin' my God damned blessings here," Sam clarified loudly to his bar's biggest busybody born outside Bon Temps. With waitresses getting killed, his revised reputation, and employing a single vampire when that maniac ripped out a guy's spine on T.V., while Arlene danced around singing 'told ya so', he had a bit of a problem hiring more people to let everyone get their own way around here. He'd force Eric to call in that debt first though before he let anyone become his minority partner. Damned vampire saved him along with everyone else in this ungrateful town, and the other one was slinking about like a dog with his tail between his legs because Sookie wanted to grow up to be as congenial as Tara. Sam didn't want Sookie to date him or anything, but if she was going to keep getting into trouble, she might want some friends that could handle it.

Not liking Sam's suggestion, especially since Sookie had been thinking she'd never have children, if she stayed with vampires, she didn't feel like talking to him anymore. It would be his own fault when Eric stabbed Sam and all the others in the back … then she'd have to help them. Things must be so much simpler for vampires, and not having any friends they cared about.

She was trying to get back to work, and make sure all her tables had whatever they needed, when Sookie noticed Holly had Heimdall cornered. Well, he wasn't really cornered, if he wanted to show off being a vampire to escape, but Holly was definitely invading his personal space. Sam beat her to shooing Holly off, and whatever Sam talked about with Heimdall after that, the vampire responded with a negative shake of his head.

The next time Sookie was at the bar to pick up drinks, Sam suggested, "Why don't you take a break after you deliver these, Sook, so Heimdall can be on his way?"

Sookie almost responded that Heimdall had to wait for her to get off work, but then thought Sam didn't need to know that she had another vampire hanging around her all the time. Bad enough Heimdall came in here to talk to Jessica. Eric should leave Sam and Lafayette alone. He should leave all the humans alone, and cut Jessica some slack. It wasn't her fault that Bill was forced to make her a vampire, and then didn't do a very good job because he was too busy being a lying sneak for his Queen.

She delivered her beer, then made a round of her tables first before going to talk to Heimdall. Sookie was not going to lose more tip money.

As she sat on the bar stool next to him, Sookie asked, "Any messages from your master for me?"

"Not specifically. I think Eric is disappointed that you are not planning on taking him up on his offer for health insurance after you called him to complain you had none."

"I didn't call him to ask for health insurance." Sookie had called him to see if she could get some money to pay her hospital bill, rather than hearing some bullshit over it was her vampire's right to drain her dry and leave her for dead.

Heimdall nodded. He was still confused about what Sookie called Eric about that prompted Eric to ask Heimdall to call her from France. If she would not discuss it at her home, he doubted she'd tell him now.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"There was no sign of werewolves near your house again."

"Okay."

He knew she was angry before he arrived so he asked, "Does your work normally irritate you?"

"What?"

"I can tell you're angry, but not what is causing it."

"Everything."

That was a broad answer, and not helping him determine if he could remedy it. All he could read from Sookie was irritation and simmering anger. He sensed no expectation. "Should I return to Shreveport?"

"Yeah, because every time you come in here, everybody gets all stirred up."

"All right. Good night."

"Yeah, good night. Have a safe trip home."

"You too," he replied. He sensed she was confused. Did she expect him to argue?

Sookie watched Heimdall leave. She was relieved he wasn't going to sit around here for the next hour or so, drawing attention to himself.

After she went outside after work, he was not at her car. Nor on her front porch at home, or in the house. Sookie even went upstairs and checked the bedroom. Heimdall was such an idiot.

He didn't call the next day, nor show up at Merlotte's. Nothing for days.

After Jessica had a night off, Sookie overheard her telling Tommy about going to school at night to get her GED.

She interrupted, "That was my idea, you know."

"What?" Jessica asked.

"That you should get your GED."

"Eric didn't mention that," Jessica said.

"Eric?" Sookie scoffed. "I told Heimdall."

"What are you talking to him for?" Tommy asked. He still wanted to knock that twerp around. For a vampire, Heimdall was a real wimp.

"Sorry, Sookie, but I don't think it was Heimdall at all. Eric tried to get him out of taking any tests and stuff. At least I'm not as much trouble since I know my real name, and where I was born and stuff."

"Well duh," Sookie said. "Heimdall can't say that."

Jessica's eyes glanced pointedly at Tommy as she agreed, "Yes, I know. It's horrible how he was treated by his maker. His memory is terrible. They had to take him into another room so someone could fill out his answer sheet for our test since he didn't understand filling in those circles."

"What test?"

"Since Eric had to contact them about me, they picked on Heimdall too, since Eric had to adopt him."

"When?"

"So he could get his passport, besides working and whatever else."

"That is so retarded," Sookie declared.

"No, he is," Tommy laughed.

"That's not funny," Jessica scolded. "He can't help that his getting turned into a vampire went so wrong. I could have ended up the same way, if Bill hadn't dumped me at Fangtasia that first night."

"What are you talking about?" Sookie asked.

Jessica slowly explained, even though Sookie should know that Heimdall could not admit he was Godric, "He doesn't remember who he was before he became a vampire. He doesn't even remember much of that at all. They're not even sure how long he's been a vampire. If it was days, weeks, months or even over a year, before his maker got staked for creating all those vampires and not doing anything with them. Just letting them starve and all."

Catching on, Sookie agreed, "Oh yeah, but what's this about a test?"

"The sheet where you color in a circle with a number two pencil. He didn't get that, or even the multiple choice of A, B, C or D. They couldn't let Eric fill in answers for him, so they sent him into a room with someone else, with a camera on them so they know he didn't glamour that person into putting down answers he didn't give. What a bunch of assholes. Heimdall can't go to regular GED classes with me so it's not worth testing him."

"Why can't he?"

"They might give a test or two," Jessica said sarcastically.

"Can't he get extra help?"

Tommy snapped, "If someone doesn't want to go to school, than they shouldn't force him to." God, Sookie really was a pain in the ass, like everyone said. She probably went to school, and was still a moron, even if she could read the right answers out of someone's mind.

"In Louisiana, someone is not allowed to drop out of school till they're eighteen," Jessica stated. "I am no longer being home schooled, so I need to do something. Obviously, at night."

"Eighteen?" Tommy repeated in disbelief. He hoped Sam didn't hear this.

"Yeah, I thought it was sixteen," Jessica said. "Eric's already agreed to hire someone to work with Heimdall under some law for performers, rather than letting him go to some night classes with other people. On nights I'm working at Fangtasia, I can stay and do class with him, but if Hoyt's with me, I don't want to keep him out that late."

"Isn't there some exception for people that are stupid?" Tommy asked, to inquire about his own shortcoming, then added, "As you said, not his fault, but there's some people that just don't get it."

"I don't know. It might be simpler to let Heimdall have two or so years of tutoring, than fight it and not agree on a definitive test. I don't think vampires want outsiders knowing too much. At least we're both able to admit that neither of us were willing to be made vampires, and we've supplied the names of the criminals that did this to us."

"Bill?" Sookie blurted out.

"Yeah, why not? You know he this to me. I was living in his house. Not going to school or anything because he was too busy being a dick. If it wasn't for Heimdall and Hoyt, I wouldn't have had any Tru Blood either, unless I started robbing people for money, and then I might as well glamour 'em and drain 'em. I'm not the criminal. William Compton is. He gave me this _disease _that's got no cure."

Tommy put it in simpler words, "What disease? He killed ya."

Sookie was reminded of how she felt when she first found out about Jessica. Bill said he had no choice in the matter. That's what turning someone into a vampire was, killing them. Why was she so agreeable? She had been angry, but she forgave Bill, got to know Jessica, and then it was sort of a nuisance that Bill needed to do things for Jessica, even though it was clear Bill was not doing a very good job of it. It was like Bill translated the situation for Sookie to understand it from his point of view, and then she accepted it. She knew whatever story they were giving for Heimdall was a lie, but Jessica's was true. She was kidnapped, and when she was made a vampire, Jessica was murdered by Bill.

"Why didn't Eric wait till you were eighteen then?"

"Because I'm going to be working at Fangtasia," Jessica replied. "Just because something's a law doesn't mean vampires don't got to obey them. He brought it to the attention of whoever does that stuff in Shreveport because he was registering us all at the business address so no one can easily figure out where we rest. There's two of us that became vampires after the Revelation, so we missed that grace period to register with the government to prove how old we are."

"It would be a lot simpler if Eric didn't turn you into his slave labor," Sookie complained.

"I'm getting paid, Sookie. Why do you have to be so negative about Eric? Yeah, he's a vampire. When you got deadly poisoning, where'd Bill take you? To Eric. When you found out who poisoned you, who took care of getting rid of her? Oh, Eric again. Hm, when Bill proposed to you, and you had no idea where he went, you went to Eric after checking for Bill at home."

"That's his job. He's the sheriff."

"That's the vampire sheriff. He does things for vampires. Anyone else needs to negotiate, and I think you might be on the owing side of things by now, and all you do is act like he should be kissing your ass."

Tommy asked, "Are you two gonna fight? 'Cause I like girl fights."

"No," Sookie denied. "Jessica's got a thing for Eric because he's all big, blond and sexy."

"I got big and sexy at home. I don't need to fantasize about Eric."

"Hey," Sam called. "What the hell are you all doing back there? Ain't any of you working tonight?"

Sookie didn't like the sound of this one bit. Why was Heimdall pretending to be so inept, if he was going to have to pretend to learn stuff anyway? She didn't know if this thing with the test and having to go to school was getting him down, but Sookie still didn't hear from him.

By Saturday night, Sookie decided she'd head over to Fangtasia with the others to find out what was going on. She hadn't seen or heard from Heimdall, except that stuff from Jessica. She saw no reason for Heimdall to pretend he was something he wasn't for Eric's ego.

When she told Sam she decided to join them, he replied, "I don't think that's such a good idea. If you make them mad, Eric could change his mind and it'll be a waste of all our time getting this set up."

"Why would Eric get mad 'cause of me?"

"Because you're making health insurance coverage sound like some evil vampire plot. Maybe I should pray I never get hurt instead. That'll show all of them, right?"

"Don't be stupid, Sam."

"No, stupid would be bringing you, Tommy _and_ Arlene."

"Oh come on, Sam, you can't discriminate against Sookie," Holly butted in. "Besides maybe your offer to take us all out to breakfast after got her attention."

"Breakfast?" Sookie repeated.

"Yeah, might only be a Waffle House," Sam said. "I thought if things got tense at Fangtasia, we could all look forward to breakfast afterward, and Hoyt and Jesus are coming along too. But both of you got to remember, Eric's the boss over there, like I'm the boss here, so don't be givin' him your usual sass."

The mention of sass reminded Sookie of Tara. She had changed her outgoing message on her phone again so she was around somewhere. Lafayette said she was probably blowing off steam somewhere.

"I won't sass, boss. I got to thinking that I may need coverage because Eric's right. There's a lot that could happen that wouldn't be my fault, or his fault, and that's what insurance is for."

Sam's eyes narrowed. He was not the mind reader, but he suspected Sookie was lying because she was as stubborn as they came.

Sookie was suspicious because Sam was hiding something from her. She couldn't tell what, but caught on when Hoyt sneaked in through the back later, and Sam threw him his keys. She had to get a cup of ice for one of her tables and was back behind the bar when Sam made his move. Hoyt was thinking of Jessica, and he didn't want her to see him.

She was trying to listen further because Hoyt was thinking of a lot of mixed up things. Jessica, Fangtasia, Eric and Heimdall, when Sam asked, "Something wrong?"

"Huh?"

"You're standing there with a cup of ice, looking into the machine."

"What's Hoyt doing?"

"Sook, don't worry about it. I was picking Hoyt up later so Jessica and him wouldn't have to drive too late."

"Don't they want to be alone?"

"Maybe I didn't want to be alone with Holly for an hour there and back, before you decided to join the party. Sometimes, I can't count on Terry to say anything."

"Why are you going? I thought you said you had insurance."

"I do, but if Eric's making a deal with me, I think I better remain a part of it. I might be the one that started all the talk about we should all start trusting one another, and he came through on it then, but I'm not going to stand around with a big grin on my face thinking everything's great until I know it is. Shreveport's a long ride for some of us, and with all this anti-vampire stuff going on after that guy on television, it may not be safe. So why don't you get that ice to where it's going, and not worry about Hoyt. I was picking him up, but now that you're coming, I might ask him to drive the two of them, and I'll follow."

"But …"

"Hey, I know what's going on, and I'm good with it. Don't go blabbing and asking questions. Try living for the moment, especially since it'll be someone else's moment later, Sookie."

"What?"

"Ice, and no flapping your lips to anyone. It's something nice, for once, so don't go jumping on your broom."

Sookie didn't see how it could be something nice if Hoyt was thinking about Eric and Fangtasia. Was he thinking about moving to Shreveport? He wouldn't need Sam's keys for that.

And what did Sam mean by that comment about a broom? Sookie was simply concerned about what was going on. Surprises didn't turn out well for her. She also didn't like a lack of communication. Heimdall and Eric better have a good reason why they were not talking to her for days at a time.

Hoyt did show up to drive Jessica, and Lafayette and Jesus were taking Lafayette's car. If Sookie had a car like that, she'd be looking for excuses to take road trips too. Sam was driving Terry, Holly and her in his old Bronco. Sookie went to the back seat, since Sam still wasn't happy with her. Holly let Terry ride up front.

Once they were on the road, and Terry finally found a radio station that was playing normal music late on a Saturday night, Sookie asked, "So what's up with Jessica?"

"Nothing is up. Vampires are gonna surprise her later, and wanted Hoyt and I to know."

"Why?"

"Christ, Sookie, because we'd be happy for her too. You got to remember that vampires don't celebrate much. They don't got birthdays or Christmas, but do recognize Halloween."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think even that's been on television. Tommy already let me know that you were starting trouble over her getting her GED, but she passed all the tests so she's got it. She doesn't need to do any classes. Officially, she could even go to college now, if she wanted. So I guess with Bill treating her so … indifferently, the others have kind of taken it upon themselves to let her know later and give her a couple gifts."

"That's great," Terry said. "I was never one for school. I'm not even much help with Coby's homework because I forgot so much."

"So it's a surprise?" Holly asked.

"Yeah," Sam said, "but I got something for her from all of us, so we're good. I think that's why they asked Hoyt if it was all right."

"All right for giving her presents?" Sookie asked.

"Well, we'll all be there too, you know. Maybe it'll make us feel more like a team."

"Why couldn't you tell me earlier?" Sookie wanted to know.

"Because you never shut the fuck up about some things. You got a problem with things that ain't any of your business. Why would Tommy tell me that you got all riled up about Jessica needed to stay in school till she's eighteen? I had no idea myself, but I checked and it's true."

"That was changed a few years back, Sam," Holly informed him.

"What's that … ignorance is no excuse to do something illegal?" Terry asked.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, understanding what Terry was saying, even though he didnt' think he got the quote right. What he hoped was Jessica could be a positive role model for Tommy. His parents were criminal for not teaching Tommy to read. Everyone read now.

"Did Heimdall pass?"

"Eric didn't say. Maybe rewarding Jessica's an incentive to get him to do better."

"If he didn't, it's because Eric told him not to," Sookie asserted. "He's pretty smart, and is always reading."

"Sookie, just stop it. You're sounding like you broke up with Eric, instead of Bill."

"Why would he ask someone to fail that test?" Holly asked. "They're probably making an exception to allow Jessica to pass at … how old is she? And not go to some sort of school."

"I think if you graduate from high school, you're done. Eighteen or not. They're substituting this GED test for that because she can't go to school during the day, but Eric said no one under eighteen is supposed to be made vampire, and he's stuck with two in his area that were turned illegally and against their will."

"But Heimdall ..." Sookie started.

"Is probably younger than Jessica, Sookie. _Right_? _You _already told me, when we were at Bill's that night, before he jumped on top of my car."

"Yeah, but -"

"Let Eric handle it."

"Why did Heimdall jump on your car?" Terry asked.

"I don't know. Maybe 'cause it made noise. He went to look around the Bon Temps Cemetery 'cause there was something out that was causing trouble."

"What?" Holly asked.

"She's best forgotten," Sam said. "The vampires got rid of it."

Terry admitted, "I don't remember much about it myself. They tried to say it was something in the water, but I don't think so."

"Some of these things play with your minds," Sam admitted. "Vampires can, but not all at once. I think most of them are trying to give that up with going public."

"Not all of them," Sookie refuted.

"Yeah, well, when you drink their blood that's gonna mess you up. Why do you think V addicts are so crazy?"

"Some of them go on murderous rampages," Holly warned.

"Or commit suicide," Terry added.

"And now you know," Sam said in order to end the conversation on vampire blood.

"Yeah, V's bad," Sookie agreed. She didn't need them guessing what her problems were.

In one of the other cars, Jesus was trying to get Lafayette to tell him everything he remembered about Eric and his vampiric cohorts.

"Look, just don't go messin' with that motherfucker. He only does shit to amuse himself. If I lived over a thousand years, I'd probably be bored out of my fuckin' skull too. Almost kilt me, heals me, dangles rewards in front of me, reels me back in, casts me back out. One day, he'll find a new toy. I think that young vampire of his keeps him distracted. Little Heimdall seems to not want to cross over to the dark side, 'cause Jason Stackhouse tried to have a fuckin' prayer meetin' with him to get him to save his dumbass sister's life."

"Did it work?"

"Oh yeah. It hurt him too to do it, but he did."

"How'd it hurt?"

"Because some crazy ass bitch is messin' with his head. I don't think that one's wrapped too tight. He's one of those vampires I can see dyin' young. He was never cut out for this shit. He's tryin' to give it his best with runnin' errands for Eric. If he tracked Sookie to a hospital in Ruston before he had her blood, he's givin' it a good shot."

"Eric wanted her found?"

"Yeah, that's what he said when he showed up. He called and said somethin' in another language to let Eric know, but Sook was dyin'. Her vampire boyfriend had drained her and left her for dead. Savin' her life was probably good 'cause of all this anti-vampire shit goin' on, but I bet lots of idiot girls get drained all the time. Sookie and Jason have been real good to my cousin, Tara, but girl's got no sense a'tall. She threw herself at the first vampire to set foot in Bon Temps."

"They were human once," Jesus replied. "So I guess they're as likely to be as good as a human boyfriend, in a way."

"Yeah, both Sookie and Tara both found themselves two rotten ones out of the bunch."

"And Eric?"

"He's definitely not my boyfriend, boyfriend. He's messed with my head so much, I'd swear he's gay, but I don't know for real at all. He had Pam, but that may be business, and I don't know what really goes on with him and Heimdall. Both of them got their own style, though I know Pam dresses different for work. The whole vampires must wear black thing."

"Vampire bar, and they got to give the tourists what they want, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. The other vampire I know is Chow. Not much about him, 'cept he fed on me, along with Pam and Eric."

"No Heimdall?"

"I don't know where he was then. I didn't see him till … oh, after that craziness over at Sookie's house. I remembers Tara's mama and I got her out of there, took her back to my place, and then when Tara ran off to save her previous loser boyfriend … get this, his nickname was Eggs and he beat the shit out of her. Didn't work either. One of them … so anyways, I had to get her back for her mama, and whatever was goin' on over there for that party, hallucinogens or whatever shit, and I came to on the lawn with a whole bunch of ugly, naked assed people that have no business ever takin' their motherfuckin' clothes off. And I was wearin' some sort of robe. Well, I got my ass out of there quick.

"Then's … let me see, no, it was definitely after that. I think it was when Sookie was dyin' after her Bill drained her, but Jason knew him. Maybe from when Sookie had to take off to go on a trip with Bill to Dallas. Jason was there for some Fellowship bible camp."

"Fellowship of the Sun?"

"Yeah, like I said the Stackhouses are just plain ol' inbred, motherfuckin' cracker dumb. Sister's gone crazy for vampires, and he's tryin' out the Fellowship. Their grandma was sweet though. Too bad she passed. There wouldn't been some wildass party at that house if she was still alive. Girl ain't even bothered to finish cleaning up after it yet. Heard there's still mud and dirt all thrown on the house still. Winter's comin' and all."

Jesus made a noise of agreement. Lafayette had a long history with this family. First though, was Eric. Jesus did not like the degree of control and fear he exerted on Lafayette. Perhaps the vampire thought Lafayette was a game, but that was not going to be tolerated. There had to be something he could do to a vampire that old and powerful to protect Lafayette. Killing him would probably bring down all sorts of his kind down on them. There had to be something to make him forget about Lafayette entirely. Perhaps make him fall into some deep infatuation with someone else that lived in Shreveport so he'd never want to leave.

As Sam pulled into the parking lot, he was amazed at how bright the new lighting was. There was not a dark corner anywhere, unless someone wanted to do something clandestine under a vehicle. The outside of the building hadn't been all that much to look at before, but now it had fresh paint.

Holly said, "I guess they weren't thinking of Oreos, when they chose the colors?"

Sam laughed. There was a horizontal strip on the bottom and top, and the middle was clean white with occasional signage posted. The red 'Fangtasia' in jazzy neon was still the same. The overhead awning frame was currently bare, and the red carpet and velvet ropes were not outside.

"Least we get a good spot tonight," he said.

The door opened as they got out of their cars. Chow was waiting for them. He was wearing a dark brown suit with a maroon shirt. Sookie didn't like his upturned lips. It reminded her of the first time when she met him. Chow had come along with Eric and Pam to take Bill away to that vampire court for staking Longshadow.

"Good evening. Nice drive? You seem to have made excellent time getting here, if you close at two."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, letting everyone else go by before saying lowly, "It's unlocked."

Chow nodded in response.

Sookie was surprised. They really remodeled Fangtasia inside. Maybe the tables were the same, under the white table clothes. It was no longer grey and red. Why did they put so much black in here? All the carpets and chairs were now black. The walls were now white, instead of red. The pictures had changed a bit, and they were now all uniformly framed with thick black frames and fancy white mattes that had their own black stripe. The notices were also framed now, like 'no biting on premises', 'do not touch anyone without their permission first', and 'no photography'.

Another male vampire was standing next to a center table that had a stack of folders on it. He introduced himself, "I'm Clancy, and the general manager here. If you sit where you want, sort of facing me, I'll pass out the paperwork that's been filled in and just waiting for your signatures."

Chow passed behind him, asking, "Anyone want anything to drink? Bar's stocked, and the refrigerators are on."

Clancy said, "Chow's a partner in the business and also tends bar here. Pam," he turned to indicate her, sitting in Eric's throne with her legs crossed, reading _Vogue_, "is also a partner, and usually works between the door and up front. Eric's the majority owner, which you've probably guessed. He's also a local vampire leader in a way, so he's frequently busy with things not related to Fangtasia."

There was a bit of disorder as some drinks were requested, and Clancy walked around matching up folders to faces. He only knew Jessica by sight.

When he got to Sookie, he had already given Holly her folder, so asked, "Your name?"

"Sookie Stackhouse."

"Are you visiting with the others, or are you going to be working with us?"

"I was thinking of working to get the insurance."

Sam interrupted, "She decided tonight."

"I'll need to get some blank forms then. Let me hand this last one out, and I'll be back with them."

Sookie could tell from the tone of his voice that Clancy wasn't happy to have a surprise. It wasn't that big a deal, and if he worked for Eric, she was sure he'd get straightened out later if he made a fuss. She looked at Pam, who's foot was in motion while she studied her magazine. Tonight, she was not dressed for work because she had on pink.

Chow was faster with the refreshments, than Clancy was with the paperwork. He came back and gave the sheets to Sookie. She wasn't happy about giving Eric her social security number, but to be fair, she had seen his tax return so she could have made note of his at the time.

"By the way, what tasks do you perform at Merlotte's?" Clancy asked.

"I'm a waitress."

He nodded in response.

She was filling out her forms when a door near the bar opened, not the one to the basement, and Heimdall pushed a stack of boxes through. There was a case of Corona on top. Chow took that, and Heimdall helped him put away things behind the bar. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and when he came around the front of the bar, Sookie noticed he was wearing those tight leather pants again. Even with the tattoos, she felt they were all wrong for him. Heimdall was not a leather kind of person, as far as she was concerned. He then went to the other side of the room and left through the door that Sookie knew went into the back because that was the way to Eric's office. He didn't give her a wave or anything.

Sookie looked over to Lafayette and Jesus. They had started whispering, which wasn't good around vampires because they could hear everything. Lafayette's thoughts were clear. He had pointed out to Jesus that that had been Heimdall. He felt sorry for him because he wasn't very vampire-like and had to work for Eric. Jesus did not like Eric and was thinking of doing something to him to get him to leave Lafayette alone, and thought that he could possibly use Heimdall. What the fuck was wrong with him? Other than staking Eric, which was going to be hard for a human, Jesus didn't know who Heimdall really was so there was no reason for him to think that Eric would care if anything happened to him.

Clancy said, "Okay, restrooms are over there," as he pointed. "Very common question. Fangtasia only serves drinks. Some of them even irritate a few of us, but alcohol is lucrative. Try to think of this as more like entertainment for people that don't get to see vampires often, or the ones that think they can't get enough of us. We're playing roles, and you can play along too. Perhaps like we're actors in a haunted house attraction?

"Some things we'll say will sound insulting … such as the decision to use flickering light bulbs for the tables, rather than real candles. One of the comments was that 'we can't trust vermin with live flames'. So yes, we tend to call the customers things like 'vermin', and they enjoy it. Eric gets referred to as just 'master', Pam is 'mistress', and we get 'master Chow' and 'master Clancy'.

"We do get some vampire customers, but this is not a bar specializing in serving vampires. It's the opposite. A bar for humans who would like to see vampires. For the most part, vampires here are either getting paid in money or paying off a service debt to Eric. We sell Tru Blood, and it is illegal for us to feed from humans in public in this state. You might have seen some protests over vampires portrayed on television, and performing an imitation of that. None of them should bother you to meet them round back or any such thing, and if you overhear something like 'meet me in the gents so I can grab a bite', let one of us know. If they're willing to do that, they'll probably see nothing wrong with trying to glamour you into forgetting or joining them.

"Best to stick to this main, public area, and if something's needed from the back, it's better we know who's going where. There may be protestors that are outside or get in, shouting about vampire terrorists, but we are a tourist trap, not a secret den of anarchists. Questions?"

Holly raised her hand, and asked, "So what do we do our first night?"

"There's an employee entrance in back, but for now, we're limiting who has a key to it. There's a couple phone numbers, our hours, and the emergency closing info sheet for you to take. Use the private Fangtasia number, that gets answered frequently and where we have voice mail. Obviously, we're not going to answer it during the day. We have two regular employees who switch off who'll be here for deliveries. We only allow them by appointment now that the remodel's done so you might not catch anyone here.

"Eric said you can come as you can since he knows you travel a distance, and he's really not too interested in listening to five minutes explaining why you're not here, if he listens to the voice mail. Bruce will get in contact with you if you under or overwork for the benefits. Everyone, but Stackhouse, has a sheet with hourly rates matched to their cost for medical, dental and eyeglasses, depending on what you picked and the size of your families. You can go over enough to make it worth your time to drive here and gas, but we're not looking to steal you away from Merlotte's.

"So to answer your question, try calling to get someone to open the back door. If not, come through the front, cut through to this door, and you'll have a locker to put your things in. You can bring a lock with you since I'm not sure we'll have enough for everyone to get one permanent. Wearing black is fine, or black pants with a white or red shirt. Our new color theme is based on the colors of a tuxedo, black and white, with red so we can have some roses about. Vampire fans like to associate us with romantic ideals."

Sookie used to think that. Bill never did get around to sending her flowers, as Lisa suggested. She didn't even know what happened to her engagement ring. It had been on her finger in Jackson, but she noticed in Bon Temps, it was gone.

"Yeah," Chow agreed, tossing a couple long-stemmed red roses at Jessica. They flew dart-like instead of arching lobs. "Those are the florist samples we got earlier. Good?"

"No thorns," she said admiringly after she caught each one, and handed them to Hoyt.

"So as you can see on the dates on that sheet, we are pre-opening on Thursday to invited guests, which is our mailing list. Then our grand opening is Friday. We will also be busy on Halloween. We're thinking of a two-night celebration since it's on a weekend. There will be another mailing, and advertising. Maybe some post-dusk trick or treating, but they've moved daylight savings back until the first weekend in November. We'll let the AVL fight that one."

Holly asked, "Trick or treating?"

"A lot of vampires like dressing up. We're still brainstorming on whether we'll have an overall theme or not. We'll be needing Jessica that night. She's pretty and vivacious."

The door that Clancy indicated went to the back where the lockers were opened. Eric came out and frowned. "Still talking?"

"You hired Clancy because he's a talker," Pam drawled.

"Any more questions?" Clancy asked. "You can learn more on your first nights."

They looked at each other, and Eric said, "Good. Last piece of business. Jessica passed her GED test so she is done with school."

"I did?" she asked.

"Yes, unless you're studying something more. Legally you're done. Good job. Time for presents."

Heimdall came out and stood behind Eric. He was back to wearing baggy shorts, a hoodie and sandals.

"Presents?" Jessica repeated.

"It is traditional to receive presents when graduating from high school," Pam announced. She reached behind the throne and slid a good-sized wrapped box out. Chow pulled another two boxes out from behind the bar and placed them on top.

"Wow," she said, standing.

Sam started clapping. The other humans joined him, including Sookie.

Hoyt slipped a small, narrow box out of his jacket pocket and offered it back to Jessica with one of the roses.

"You knew?"

"Yeah, Heimdall stopped by the house last night, and I let Sam know."

Sookie frowned. Heimdall had been in Bon Temps?

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "One of those boxes over there is from all of us at Merlotte's. Snuck it in right in front of you."

"I can't believe it," Jessica said, starting to sound emotional.

Eric went over and said, "I don't think any of us have the same lofty educational credentials as you now." Clancy shook his head. He had not gone that far in school as a human.

"It's only high school," she protested.

"No need to be modest. You're vampire," Eric replied and handed her a large envelope. He leaned towards her and whispered as he ghosted his lips over her cheek, "This can wait till your home." Eric took a few steps back to allow Jessica to receive the rest of her bounty.

Jessica took Eric's envelope, and also reached to take Hoyt's gift so her boyfriend didn't think she was ignoring him. She opened the box. It was a lovely, diamond pendant necklace. She gave him a real kiss that lasted close to thirty seconds.

Chow shook his head, "Diamonds. Women always like the diamonds."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Clancy complained to Chow, "I knew your choice was frivolous."

Chow put his hand on one of the boxes, "This is from Clancy and I. This other is from Sam and your friends at Merlotte's."

Jessica opened the Merlotte's gift first. It was a microwave oven.

Sam said, "Hoyt mentioned you needed things for the house."

"Thank you," Jessica said, giving Sam a hug, then saying, "thanks, guys," to the rest of her friends from Merlotte's.

Clancy and Chow had given her a Wii system with a few games. Hoyt laughed, "Do all vampires play Wii?"

Pam answered, "Definitely not. These witless boobs would spend from sunset to sunrise playing if they didn't have work. It is the biggest waste of time."

"Don't worry, we got Jessica our favorite games so we can go over there to kick her rear end so you can use the home theater system to watch some boring costume drama put out by the BBC," Chow replied.

"Maybe you should get your GED," Pam replied. "You might then be able to tell the difference between Shakespeare and Austen."

"I still wouldn't care," was his reply.

Pam stood up and brought her gift over to Jessica. She explained, "I did not want to be accused of buying you accessories for work, so stayed away from black."

Jessica took the box and opened it on the bar. She ooh'ed over a pair of champagne-colored pumps with peep toes and a rhinestone bow in front, and Pam also got her the matching bag.

Quietly, Heimdall edged over, taking a small box out of his messenger bag, and put it on the bar next to Pam's shoes. He backed away and resumed lurking in Eric's wake. Sookie's mouth dropped open. It was a light, almost turquoise blue, or what was popularly known as Tiffany blue.

Jessica showed off the contents to Hoyt before tentatively touching it with her fingertip. Three, not-silver, bangle bracelets were in the Tiffany box.

"White gold," Pam said to reassure her.

"Good night. One of you will lock up?" Eric asked.

Both Clancy and Pam nodded.

Sookie said, "Wait. How did Heimdall do on his test?"

Eric frowned at her, and replied, "He needs continued remedial instruction."

"I failed the basic education test spectacularly," Heimdall admitted. "I did not even attempt the GED test that Jessica succeeded in passing."

"Why?"

"He has difficulty understanding the questions for the simpler test to prove he has the education of a child entering secondary school," Eric explained sharply. "Legally, Heimdall is required to continue trying to learn the material till he reaches eighteen, even if he is vampire."

"That's bullshit."

Eric's eyes narrowed before he turned to go, taking Heimdall's arm. He did not feel maliciousness from Sookie, but he did not know how else to take her attack on his maker's inability to work with numbers. Memorizing telephone numbers as they were said to him was not a problem, but any mathematical work confused him. With the AVL not allowing any medical examination of them, Eric could still not tell if it was related to Godric's problem with writing. After years of trying, he knew there was some sort of jumbling of different alphabets in his head, along with difficulty remembering how things were spelled in complex languages, like English. Why he could read and comprehend what he read was a mystery.

At the moment, Heimdall simplified his signature to an ill-formed 'H N' so even filling in the spaces on that test form with all seventeen letters, and then coloring in circles would only be possible if he was looking at something with his name printed on it, if there was no time limit. He chose the name Godric before it became fashionable to sign one's name to stacks of paper. Eric chose Heimdall due to that god's longevity, compared to the others. He would be the last to die at Ragnorak, with Loki. Much like Eric wished for his maker. Unfortunately, the maenad blood did not last as long as he hoped, and Heimdall was dissatisfied with Russell Edgington's demise also. Sookie had not resumed being the plucky innocent he first met with Bill's perfidy becoming public knowledge, so she was worthless, in this regard. Heimdall did not want her harmed, but could not relate to her on a personal level. His maker's rare companions adored Godric, something Sookie clearly did not do. If she didn't have fae blood, she'd be a rotting corpse by now. At least Eric was glad there was a reason to explain his unnatural attraction to such a contrary and aggravating thing.

"I wouldn't have believed it myself," Pam agreed, sensing her maker's frustration with the ungrateful part-fairy, who he had saved numerous times, while risking his own true death, as he exited. "My estimation of the state of Louisiana has risen during this incident. If he stayed in Texas, Heimdall could have dropped out at sixteen with parental consent. Pity we don't know who or where his parents are. Shreveport police aren't making it a top priority either, much like our clear surveillance tapes of vandals with license plate numbers."

Hoyt asked, "Don't the tattoos prove he must have been eighteen?"

"No," Clancy replied. "Using that logic, he must have been eighteen to become vampire. Multiple laws were broken. They're guessing Heimdall was almost fifteen based on a visual inspection of his teeth. The AVL has a thing against X-rays, along with other medical tests, so we're stuck with Eric's compromise to get them up to sixteen. He requires two years of tutoring in this state to meet the legal obligation."

After Sookie's outburst, pointing out the failing of the other young vampire, the festive mood had been lost. Jessica's presents were loaded into Hoyt's car, as the humans discussed their destination for Sam's offer of breakfast. In the end, they settled on a Waffle House location, as previously discussed.

Holly reopened the subject after they were settled and their orders placed. "You know, not everyone tests well. They know it, but the pressure of takin' a test is too much for 'em."

"Or the pressure of having someone like Eric wantin' you to pass it," Lafayette added.

"Or fail it," Sookie countered.

"Why?" Jessica asked. "It's gonna be a lot easier for them if he could pass it."

Sam said, "Can we just stop talkin' about it? It's good that vampires are tryin' to obey the law, without glamouring and changing records like they used to, before the Revelation."

"They could glamour whoever's tutoring him," Sookie continued.

"To do what?" Jessica argued. "If he can't pass the test, a personal recommendation ain't gonna matter."

Jesus suggested, "Lighten up. It's not as if we're sitting around discussing quantum theories or sub particles ourselves." He didn't need them harping on about a weakness that he was trying to think of how he could exploit. Eric's little vampire buddy was not bright. That was good, but everyone knowing it, and talking about it, was not.

"Maybe the tutor, if he or she's allowed to really do the work, will rediscover he has a learning disability," Holly suggested.

Jessica nodded, "He just sat still in the testing room, till they went and took him into another room. Later, Heimdall told me he didn't understand the instructions."

"Listen, I'll apologize the next time he comes into Merlotte's," Sam said. "It's a big step even admitting you may not know something, and now he has Jessica as a role model. It may not be as easy for him, but not everything is supposed to be."

Lafayette agreed, "If it's easy, it ain't worth havin'," and patted Jesus' thigh under the table.

Hoyt said, "Wait, he's allowed in Merlotte's, or isn't he? Last night, he said he couldn't go in there any more because he caused too much trouble."

Sam refuted, "I never told him he's not welcome, even though I don't think he's ever bought anything. It's others, not him, that's the problem. I already told Tommy not to try and throw dishes at him again."

"He better not," Jessica warned. "He got me last time."

Lafayette was thinking if only it was that easy to keep Eric away, when Sam suddenly asked, "What's that look on your face, Sookie? Did you tell him to stay out? What if he needs to tell Jessica something for Eric?"

"I didn't mean it that way," Sookie denied. "I just said that when he sits at the bar, it could cause trouble."

"God damn it, Sook, why do you got to go and … I'm telling them that we got to work together to solve things, though at the time I meant other supernatural creatures that we needed some vampire know-how and strength to deal with, and they did it, and then you go complaining to them that I can't get you free or cheap medical insurance that actually takes care of a hospital stay, and you go telling them they ain't welcome? Sometimes, I admit they can be a bunch of assholes, but when they're trying to do some things right, you go jumping down their throats. Why don't you … join the Fellowship then?" Sam almost slipped and insulted Arlene in front of Terry. If vampires met with such intolerance, how would others who could pass for human be treated? Tara and his foster parents left town rather than tolerate him.

Annoyed, Sookie replied, "Why don't you sell Eric half of Merlotte's, and we wouldn't have to drag our asses to Shreveport?"

Sam's finger jabbed the table top, "Because Merlotte's is mine. And for your information, he didn't offer to buy half."

"All?" Lafayette asked in horror.

"No," Sam denied, "just enough to get whatever corporate entity he uses that owns Fangtasia involved. I'm not ready to go into business with him, unless I'm forced to."

"He could force you," Sookie said.

"Yeah, but he didn't, and he didn't call in the big favor I owe him either. So even if you haven't realized it, I have. Not all vampires are dishonorable, lying scum, like I first pegged Bill Compton to be."

"Eric lies."

"Well, I guess we'll find out when one of us tries to go to the doctor or hospital, or you come into work and find out I'm accidentally dead and I willed all my earthly possessions, including my bar, to Eric Northman."

Continuing, Sam asked, "Why did you come tonight, Sookie? Did you just want to verbally jab at them to have Eric withdraw the offer and waste all our time? You were certainly sure-fire all set to do things your way, preferring to have no insurance and pay your own way."

"No," she denied.

"Bit of a downer for you that they were acting rather normal and congratulating Jessica?"

Sookie couldn't believe they were blinded by that, so reminded them, "He said we had to call Eric master."

Holly interrupted, "Clancy prefaced that by saying we're acting. This could be fun, if you think about it."

"When I worked there before, when Bill first abandoned me, I could insult the customers and get away with it," Jessica added. "I don't have Pam's practice though. She could write a dictionary of insults."

"Just don't use that attitude at my place," Sam warned.

They split up into their cars again, and once they were back on the road, Sookie's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"It's me." Sookie recognized Eric's voice. He asked, "Are you driving?"

"No, why?" she asked.

"You shouldn't drive and talk on the phone at the same time. What were you trying to say to Heimdall and I earlier?"

"I didn't get a chance to talk to you alone."

"Huh. I ask you a question, and you respond with something that has little to do with it. Heimdall finds that annoying, and so do I."

"What? Well, I don't care."

"Neither of us understood what you were saying earlier. It sounded rude and cruel, but neither of us felt that from you. Do you say things like that so naturally that you feel nothing as you say them?"

"I'm rude?" she repeated indignantly.

"Heimdall admitted he failed the test he was given. You were critical of his performance in front of others. Was there a reason for that?"

"Yeah, because he could have passed it."

"There was a camera. If he glamoured someone to take the test on his behalf, he would have been caught, unless we went through the trouble of getting that record. That could have resulted in having him take the test again."

"No, I mean he could have passed it for real."

Eric was quiet a moment before responding, "I'm not sure he could. He did try his best with a human filling out the answer sheet for him. Do you know they put those forms with the colored in circles through a machine that reads and scores them?"

"Yeah."

"All right. I wanted to express I found that interesting. Either way, with circles or written answers, Heimdall would have answered incorrectly. He could tell while taking it that he did not understand the concept being tested. I am still not comprehending your lack of sympathy towards him in this regard. Please explain it."

"I don't want to discuss it with you," she replied. Sookie didn't know why Eric was making such a big production out of what she did. It was Eric's fault Heimdall failed that test.

"Could it be you don't want to admit how much of a cruel bitch you are?"

Sookie disconnected the call. She didn't have to sit here and listen to Eric being impolite.

Fuming at Eric kept her wide awake on the drive back, pick up her car from the Merlotte's lot, and get her cleaning the house till dawn. If she was Heimdall's, why did Eric keep butting in? He kept interfering with Bill and her too, but his method had changed. Now, Eric pretended he was protecting Heimdall, which his maker didn't need.

By her dinner break at work, Sookie had decided exactly what she was going to say to Eric. She'd call him back once it got dark, and straighten his undead ass out.

She called back the number on her cell phone from early this morning, and when it stopped ringing, she aggressively asked, "Are you listening to me?"

"I am, Miss Stackhouse," Heimdall answered.

"Hey, I was calling to talk to Eric."

"I can let him know you wish to talk to him when he returns."

"Where are you?" she asked. She heard the 'rah, rah' of Lady Gaga in the background.

"Home."

"Eric went out without his phone?"

"I can call him if you have an emergency."

"No, ain't this Eric's number?"

There was a sound of the phone rubbing on something, then Heimdall said, "This is the phone I use, but Eric pays for the service. Is that what you mean?"

"He called me from this number this morning."

Heimdall did not reply, so Sookie prompted, "Hello?"

"Eric may use this phone. It did have your number in it because I called you days ago."

"He used your phone to call me without letting you know?"

"I do not see a problem with that. I am not understanding what you are trying to discuss with me."

"Look, he called me because he was mad at how I talked to you at Fangtasia."

She paused for a response, but received none, so continued, "And I didn't like how he talked to me."

There was another silent moment before Heimdall inquired, "You are asking that I reprimand Eric?"

That's not what Sookie had in mind, but it sounded good so she asked, "Would you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I do not find it appropriate in this situation."

"What are you trying to say? Your feelings are hurt too?"

"How can I find the truth to be insulting, Miss Stackhouse? I admit I failed a test that human children around the age of twelve should currently be able to pass. I am disappointed that you have chosen to laud your superior education over me, and that you will not accept that I cannot accomplish that."

"Why can't you?"

"We have discussed this previously. I lack sufficient intellect. Why do you enjoy hearing me repeat it?"

"I don't. You're wrong. I can teach you some of that stuff myself."

"Is there anything else you wanted, or was it I request Eric return your call?"

"I can't talk to him till I'm done at work."

"How are you calling now?"

"I'm on break."

"Very well. I will tell him to call you later."

"Wait, before you go, I didn't mean that you couldn't come into Merlotte's."

"It is already settled. Pam is resuming business in Bon Temps."

"Lafayette doesn't like her much," Sookie said.

"I have not had anything to deliver to Mr. Reynolds. Perhaps his weekly visit to Fangtasia will remove any necessity for Pam to seek him out."

"Why is Eric still bothering him?"

"He has no medical insurance?"

"Not that."

"Can you clarify your question then?" he asked.

"What can Lafayette do at Fangtasia? He's a cook and works on the road crew."

"Eric thinks well of him, and seems to have more faith in his abilities than you, or so I blithely thought. Do you mean since Mr. Reynolds is supposed to work with me, the two of us are too mentally challenged to interact with anyone other than ourselves. Is that it?"

Irritated that Heimdall was twisting her words, Sookie growled, "No."

"I don't know what you mean then. Good night."

"What?"

"Aren't you returning to work?"

"Yeah."

"Good night."

"Yeah, good night."

Dissatisfied with how that call, Sookie went in back when things were slow and made another call back to Heimdall.

"Yes?" he asked as he answered.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Whatever's got you in this mood."

"Me?" he queried.

"Yeah."

"Do you wish to speak to Eric instead?"

"No, I called to talk to you this time."

"I find your behavior confusing."

"Okay. I'm not angry that you failed that test. I didn't know that you have trouble with some school things."

Heimdall was giving her that quiet thing of his again, so she prompted, "Well?"

"All right."

"Call off Eric and Pam, and you can come into Merlotte's whenever you want to see me."

"All right," he responded again, just as calmly.

"I'm not really on break this time, but I didn't want you thinking I was angry at you."

"All right. Good night again."

His tone of voice gave Sookie no indication of whether he accepted her apology or not. She asked, "You okay?"

"I am expecting Eric back soon," he replied.

"Don't bother having him call me."

"All right. Good night."

"Good night."

Author's Note: When I researched the high school drop-out age in Louisiana, I was surprised to find out it was 18. Usually it's 16 with parental consent, 18 without, in other states.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

_Author's Note_: Sookie's money problems are reminiscent of the books (_Club Dead _or #3), and her irritation with Bill giving money to the Bellefleur family, while not even asking how she was doing financially, and expecting her to miss work without compensation, except for the trip to Dallas. On the other hand, she also did not want money just because she was Bill's girlfriend because that would make her a 'kept woman'. Jealous and stubborn, however she did not have the expense of Eggs' funeral too. While not lavish, a casket, rush job headstone (in stock stones usually takes weeks), plot and service is not the least expensive option.

I realize that the show had the headstones in place for both Eggs and Gran, which is not the norm. Usually cemeteries have a waiting period to place an upright stone on a freshly dug grave because the ground needs to settle, because the stone may sink or tilt, if placed too soon. Two to six months' wait is not unusual, based on the cemetery. That also gives the customer plenty of time to get a customized headstone in the color and style they want. Cemeteries are particular and have rules, right down to what type of plants are allowed, and may have different areas designated within the grounds for monument headstones, or the flat grass markers.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 8**

Sookie was disappointed, and contemplated calling Heimdall again after two days of neither seeing or hearing him, except in her dreams.

At work, she overheard Jason talking with Hoyt at their table. Jason was going to help Hoyt replace a couple doors at his house and change over some locks to something stronger. Hoyt was worried about Jessica being home alone during the day while he was at work with the anti-vampire sentiments. What surprised her was a stray through from Hoyt. Jessica and him could afford the better security due to Eric's gift. He gave Jessica five thousand dollars in cash for getting her GED. Damn. If Eric could throw that kind of money around, why didn't he offer to pay her hospital bill?

Jason, on the other hand, was thinking about buying new underwear from Wal-Mart. She didn't know what he had in mind about Goodwill and Salvation Army stores in Ruston. Maybe he was thinking about cleaning out more of their parents' stuff, but she thought that had been done long ago.

Why was everyone not understanding the way she felt? Bill betrayed her, and the other vampires would too. That Queen of theirs was still out there, and she'd be back, or demand Eric catch her, like she ordered Bill to do. Maybe she already had, and Eric was trying to be sly by acting like he was ignoring her, or they were using Jessica. That's why Eric gave her that money. Sookie knew her blood tasted irresistible to vampires, and they could smell she was special, without even knowing about her fairy blood. They couldn't get enough of feeding from her. Bill said she was the best tasting blood he ever had, and he always had some when he had sex with her or when he was hurt, and Heimdall … well, Heimdall didn't drink her blood either time they had sex, but he did … once to get the protection from the sun to defeat Russell. Okay, so maybe Heimdall was not going to suck her dry every chance he got, but Eric … also fed from her once to get protection from the sun to defeat Russell. But Sookie knew she couldn't trust Eric because Bill told her … or wait, Eric tricked her into drinking his blood … after Bill did not save her from that church basement nor tell Eric where she was after Eric hired her to find Godric because he was busy with Lorena. Ah ha, Eric tortured Lafayette in that dungeon of a basement he has at Fangtasia, and locked her down in it too. And Heimdall was going to leave her locked up, if it wasn't for Yvetta being all bent out of shape and doing anything she could to screw over Eric. Sookie still didn't know why Yvetta did that. She agreed that Eric was a 'big stupid', but Heimdall didn't deserve the insults Yvetta said.

Her mind made up, Sookie called Heimdall's cell phone number.

"Yes?" he answered. There was modern dance music playing in the background. Maybe the Black Eyed Peas.

"Hi, I was calling to see if you're okay."

"I am fine, Miss Stackhouse."

"I haven't seen you since that other night at Fangtasia."

"I have been checking around your house. I have not detected any werewolves or fairies. Have you seen any?"

"No," she replied, disappointed that Heimdall hadn't stopped to see her. "Oh wait, Claudine might want to know about that treaty thing."

"I have already left them a message regarding what I think of it." Eric had written it for them. His child agreed that giving Sookie that reeking missive was not a friendly gesture.

"What do you think?" Sookie dreaded asking.

"Simply that their attempt to endanger you by purposely gifting you with that foul-smelling rag will not be tolerated. If any of them tries such a thing again, stab them with something iron."

"That doesn't sound like a truce."

"Fairy behavior does not allow for peaceful dealings even among themselves. They are similar to vampires with their clans and alliances. A group can make peace with me, but it will not hold for all fairies, and if one does attack Eric, you or I, they'll claim it was not a member of their family and not subject to the agreement."

"So you're going to attack them on sight?"

Heimdall did one of those annoying pauses of his, before he said, "Is that what I did the last time I encountered a number of them in your graveyard?"

"No, but you were outnumbered, and I was there."

"You have seen me kill in front of you before, yet I am not sure why you suggest your presence would stay my hand." Heimdall was not going to boast of his fighting skills and his confidence that he could have killed numerous unarmed and unarmored fairies before they fled in fear because he knew he could not trust Sookie not to repeat that to her fairy kin.

Right, Heimdall was a vampire, but Sookie knew he didn't have to be like one of them. Godric was different, and that didn't change with his name. "You only do that when necessary. Look, this call's not exactly going the way I'd like. When am I going to see you again, rather than you just passing through my yard?"

"Perhaps we will be working the same evening at Fangtasia."

"I meant other than that?"

"Why?"

"Aren't I your human?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Don't you have to do things with me?"

"No."

She asked, "Are you angry with me?"

"You sound as if you wish to repeat a previous conversation, yet I do not."

"Because I don't know where things stand between us, and I don't know what's going on. I'm confused."

"It has been summed up before. You are my human, but it is not required that I feed from you."

"And?"

"And …? What do you mean? You've asked that I not do things on your behalf. You were not pleased with the driveway repair, nor that I accepted and sold Bill Compton's car, since it is unthinkable to refuse a gift from the Queen of Louisiana. I will not insult you further with gifts, but if a gift is given by another vampire that your refusal would result in consequences, I will act in your best interests."

Sookie's mouth had dropped open in shock how Heimdall had misinterpreted her reaction to his cavalier attitude that he could do whatever he wanted to her house to the nerve that he would high-handedly accept gifts on her behalf to protect her from asshole vampires. What a crock. What she did want were nice gifts, but not some domineering bullshit. She wanted flowers, a new winter coat, not necessarily from Paris, a box from Tiffany's, and a romantic trip somewhere. Normal anything that normal couples did. Not some vampire lurking about in her graveyard sniffing for fairies and werewolves, before moving on to do whatever else he did for Eric. She didn't want a big, fat lie of a romance either, like she had with Bill.

When it was Sookie's turn not to reply, Heimdall asked, "Is that what you meant, when you prompted me to list your other conditions?"

"Look, you have no understanding of what I want."

"Your conversations do confuse me, but as you've kindly pointed out, I am not attained the high level of learning that you have. Initially I thought you would not answer what I thought were straightforward questions."

"What question have I not answered?"

"Why did you tell Eric that was important enough that I attempt to call you from France, even though I was traveling with Sophie-Anne and her nosy human?" Heimdall had already asked Eric. Eric told him that he was under the impression that Sookie was having some crisis over Bill's treatment of her, but refused to comprehend what he was trying to tell her. Heimdall thought it was because Bill portrayed his area sheriff as the last person Sookie should ever trust.

"I was upset when I got those bills from the hospital. It's very expensive. I'm going to owe money to them for a long time."

"He wanted me to verbally comfort you?" Heimdall asked, still confused.

"I guess, but I needed help."

"Help in what way?"

"Help paying them."

"You intend to ask me for a loan?"

Sookie couldn't believe how dense he was. "What good would a loan do me? I'd still owe the money."

"You said you would owe money for a long time. Does that mean there is no penalty for paying it whenever you can?"

"I have to keep making regular payments."

"You have told me your job at Merlotte's does not pay enough for your normal expenses, and you need to work long hours to cover the time you did not work when you went to Mississippi."

"Yes," she agreed.

"If I were to loan you money to make regular payments of this bill from the hospital, what guarantee would I have that I'd be repaid? I also see your behavior as risky towards other supernaturals. You are defiant, stubborn, say inappropriate, disrespectful things, and run towards apparent danger, rather than away."

"Why are you so concerned about money?"

"That appears to be the only thing of importance to you, besides William Compton. I am attempting empathy to consider your viewpoint."

"I couldn't help getting drained. Bill overpowered me."

"You were aware he is vampire. I think your decisions led to that situation. You insisted that you personally travel to Jackson to find Compton. You were supposed to look for him, and have Alcide call Eric. I'm also not certain, yet I overheard that you asserted you must ride in the back of a closed truck with a drained vampire. Did you do something reckless to rouse him from his daytime stupor? Did you even have multiple bottles of Tru Blood with you that he ignored?"

"Stop being a jerk," she answered. He was making it sound like it was her fault, when it wasn't. Lorena and Russell Edgington were the two people to blame, not her.

"I do not find myself at fault for your misfortune, nor your behavior after that incident. My blood should have countered his, but you still broke your word to me that same day. When I tried to converse about the hurt your dishonorable action caused me, you responded with insults. Since then, you have apologized, followed by more harsh words, and other remorseless apologies."

"Then why did you have sex with me again?"

"As I've tried to explain, I find you confusing. You called me tonight, and asked when I would see you again. What is the meaning of that? Is this about sex, money, or something else?"

"Why does there have to be a reason for me wanting to spend time with you?"

"You frequently become angry when we are together. I am unaccustomed to this behavior in people that claim they desire my company."

"Stop speaking like that and talk normal."

"No," Heimdall refused. "I can choose the way my voice sounds, and this is what I prefer."

"What?"

"You inadvertently heard my normal speaking voice, and have asked to hear it again multiple times now. This voice is more acceptable to others."

Fed up with his behavior, Sookie came right out and said it. "You're crazy."

"No, I realize I sound female, if I do not alter my vocal range. I find your request frivolous, and yet another reason you seek to start a pointless argument with me."

"That's not what I meant. I meant I want you to talk normal English."

"I was under the impression that I spoke English well. What didn't you understand?"

"It's just the whole way you talk – the words you use, and a bit of how it sounds, but not that you sound like a boy instead of a girl."

"I _ain't gonna sound _like I'm from here. May I go now?"

"Wait, what's your hurry?"

"I wish to discontinue this conversation. It serves no purpose."

"So you don't want to talk to me?"

"I don't know what you want. You called asking me to see you, but wouldn't tell me what you needed me for."

"I need a tree knocked down," Sookie replied. "Are you strong enough to do that?"

"Perhaps."

"It's big, but its roots were lifted out during a storm last year. It's leaning towards my house."

"I think I know which you mean. I will try to move it tomorrow when I go by."

"Can you stop and talk to me?"

"You have more to discuss?"

"Maybe. You don't seem to understand me on the phone."

"I don't understand you in person either," he replied quickly. "I find you contradictory."

"What do you mean?"

"At times, you seem concerned for me, yet at others, your attitude seems the opposite."

"I was hopin' you'd do more than just take orders from Eric. It's such a waste."

"Now I understand. You are disappointed in me. I suspected that, but I thought it was because I would not do everything you suggested I do, which is unreasonable."

At last. Sookie said, "You could do so much more if you weren't pretending to be a young vampire."

"I have made mistakes. I need to atone for them, along with reconsidering my purpose for still existing. You find my continued existence worthless to you since I am not filling the role you wish for me. I do not mindlessly follow your instructions, have not risked everything to save William Compton to support his mission for the Queen of Louisiana, nor loaned you more money than you possess since I suspect you will get yourself murdered shortly because you are fond of picking fights, making enemies and poor decisions."

"You're not worthless," Sookie asserted. She also did not agree to any of that other stuff.

"What purpose do I serve than?"

"You saved the whole town of Bon Temps from Maryann, and who knows how many people Russell would have killed, if he kept doing whatever he was up to."

"Russell was not so volatile until Eric staked Talbot. I don't think Eric would have acted so impulsively without me."

"Why not?"

"It is my feeling he would not."

"Okay. You know him better than me."

"Are you still angry that Eric kept Mr. Reynolds in the basement until he confessed your brother kidnapped, drained and killed a vampire?"

"Yes, but not because Lafayette was protecting my brother. I think Eric didn't have to treat Lafayette like that. He shouldn't even have a dungeon in his basement."

"He is a sheriff. I had a place to keep prisoners for questioning also."

"Did you ever shoot one?" Sookie pushed.

"No, but I've caused painful injuries that had prisoners begging to be shot. Do you truly wish to discuss this with me?"

"No."

"May this call be ended? I do not like having telephone conversations."

"Oh, that's right. Eric told me that. You should stop by to talk to me more."

"Time is not the same to me, Miss Stackhouse. You are human. I am vampire."

"I need to see and hear from you more if you're going to be my boyfriend." There, Sookie was putting it all on the table.

"Boyfriend?" Heimdall repeated.

"If I'm your human, you're my boyfriend."

"That is not the right definition."

"We're gonna have to talk about this. In person."

"Very well. Good night."

Knowing he meant it this time, after trying to get off the phone politely twice already, Sookie replied, "Good night."

She was disappointed and relieved. What did Heimdall think of she was as his human, if she was not his girlfriend? Sookie was forced to think of Bill, but Bill might have been twisting it around. She wasn't like Malcolm's Jerry, or Hadley, who got trips to Paris and lots of clothes but couldn't see her son or go home. She wasn't living with Heimdall. That was a big difference. He also said he did not need to feed from her. That was good. She didn't want to think of being kept around for her delicious blood.

Sookie laughed at herself. Yeah, vampires wanted her for the amazing sex. She was a virgin when she met Bill so that was the unlikeliest reason ever. However, a girl could dream. Oh damn, why'd her best sex dreams have to involve Eric? He was a hot kisser, just like she dreamed him too. She had already seen in person that he really was … well, he was equipped. If all Vikings were built like that, why wasn't all of northern Europe full of Eric look alikes? Oh right, Vikings were bossy and thought they knew everything.

With her life being such a quandary, she needed her best friend. Who else did she have – Jason, Arlene, maybe Lafayette? Sam was more of a possible boyfriend type. If only he said something before Bill showed up, and to keep that shifting thing a secret from her was a huge mistake. Sookie would have been happy to know there was someone else in Bon Temps who was a little different before that big liar suavely sat down at a table at Merlotte's one evening, and charmed his way into her life.

Sookie dialed Tara's number, listened to her outgoing message, 'I want all you stupid fuckers to leave me the fuck alone', and began talking.

"Tara, I know I wasn't there for you much because I had my head up my ass over Bill, and everything that's happened since I've met him. You've gone through much worse than me. I know that.

"Bill's out of my life. We broke up for good when I found out how he lied to me. Bill even paid the Rattrays to beat me up to make himself look like a hero to me. So his deception goes all the way back to when we first met. He gave me his blood and all I could think about was him after that. Bill became everything to me.

"Maybe the good thing is he was also double crossing vampires and was out to get some of them killed, or kill them himself, and they made him disappear. Bill could even be dead. I'm not sure, and maybe I don't want to know.

"Problem's not exactly that I'm alone now because I've been there before, but not without you, and not without Gran. I'm lost without the two of you.

"That's probably leading me to be even stupider. I got enemies thanks to Bill, but I might have also made some friends, but since they're vampires or there's a couple that are something else, I don't know if they're for real or not.

"One is because he can be brutally honest. He told me tonight he expects I'll get myself murdered soon. Not a nice thing to tell someone, but I've been mean to a lot of them because they weren't friends with Bill. I should'a known something was off about Bill when I did meet his friends – y'know those scumbag vampires that came into Merlotte's and then when they moved to Bon Temps, people set their house on fire and killed them? Those were Bill's friends 'round here.

"And the woman who always loved him, the woman that made him into a vampire, she was worse. The first time I met her she was very rude and then tried to kill me. I should'a known there was something up with that because Bill was hangin' with her instead of saving me while I was being held prisoner in a basement. And when he disappeared after proposin' to me, he may not have been kidnapped because he called me on the phone to tell me he just had sex with her and the two of them were laughin' at me. I should'a left Jackson that night, rather than still lookin' for him to hear him tell me that to his face. Once his face was in front of mine, he went back to lyin'. That phone call was probably to only time I heard the real Bill.

"Then I got bills from being in intensive care in the hospital in Ruston to take care of, and that one medical insurance Sam did find that I couldn't afford, I hadn't signed up for, so I called and worked out payments to pay 'em off the rest of my life. I tried to ask vampires for help to pay them, but I screwed up royally because the nicest one, the one that's honest, and the one that gave me his blood in the hospital to save my life, saw me having sex with Bill later that day and thinks all I think of is Bill, and I'll lie, cheat and steal to do anything for Bill, when that's not true. So I 'spect you want to slap me silly for bein' so fuckin' stupid to have wild make-up sex with Bill after he drained me till I almost died. I didn't know the other vampire saw it till later, and then I was under a lot of stress at the time and wasn't polite. Now I think he could hate me. I know you don't like vampires, but he's the best vampire I know, and I keep hurtin' him.

"I also got stupid when Bill got snatched by some vampire boss and she dumped everything he owned because she had bought it for him. She tried to give me Bill's car. That BMW. And the guy that brought the papers, even offered to buy it from me, but I told him I didn't want it. Well, when that nice vampire heard I was trying to refuse a gift from that boss and she'd be insulted, he sold the car, and because I kept saying I wanted gravel for my driveway and never got around to it, he spent the money on that. He didn't know about the cost of me being in the hospital, and I'm not sure he'd even have guessed about that since I don't think he's ever been in the hospital himself. I totally forgot myself, or I should'a taken the car or money. Rather than stickin' to my principles."

"So I guess that's why I'm callin' because I need someone to tell me how stupid I am besides Sam and Lafayette and Arlene."

Sookie paused took a quick breath, then said, "I don't know what else I can tell ya right now to convince you that I'm messed up, and want you to come home. I want to help you now that I'm thinkin' for myself again. Together nothing can stop us, Tara. Who cares 'bout all that if we got each other. Remember?"

Okay, she just had a major case of verbal diarrhea. It felt good to say those things out loud. Bill may be the worst thing to ever happen to Sookie. Alcide, no expert himself with Debbie, called her a doormat because she was so hung up on him, even when he made that nasty phone call to her. Gran was dead due to Bill. There was no forgiving that. Sookie could be a gullible fool, a doormat, an easy lay, a fangbanging slut, trailer trash and whatever else first, but Gran didn't deserve to die. She had to keep that in mind every time Sookie thought that maybe something with Bill could have been fixed. Love her till he met the true death … yeah, what an asshole. Love tasting her blood was more like it. That was something else she had to ask Heimdall. If she tasted so good to them, why didn't he feed from her again? At least she could expect some kind of truthful answer from him, even if it sounded bizarre.

Sookie knew Heimdall, or Godric, had problems before. Killing himself and listening to Steve Newlin were sure signs of that. What else was wrong with him? On top of listening to Eric, rather than straightening his big, blond, smug ass out.

The next evening she got annoyed at work because she was working with Holly again. She was suggesting Sookie could go to Shreveport early one night that she was working at Fangtasia, and visit that psychic, Marnie. After all Sookie had seen so far, she wasn't about to deny someone could have some sort of gift, but when the woman went into business using it, it meant it cost money Sookie did not have. She suspected she'd see Sookie was weak right now, and come up with a plan for weekly visits to suck whatever money she could out of her. That's what Sookie would do, if she was dishonest. Learn the lingo, and pretend to contact dead relatives, using her telepathy to find secrets only that relative knew. Gran wouldn't have approved of it.

She almost had forgotten about Heimdall with her dreams of how she could make money. If a normal person could get $1,000 a pop from a vampire, why couldn't she get more for her blood? Didn't need a condom with vampires. Didn't have to worry about pregnancy or diseases, or did she? How did someone get Hep D anyway? It wouldn't make her sick.

He was sitting on her porch swing, and said, "I knocked down your tree."

"Was it hard?"

"It was not beyond my strength, but it is a large object."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Did you want to come in?"

Heimdall glanced at her and the door, and asked, "Is there something else you need?"

"I'm not invitin' ya in because I need something from ya," Sookie explained.

"Could you be disappointed in me because of William Compton? A vampire upheaved your life, and you need time to recover, rather than being constantly angry."

"You don't have much in common with Bill."

"I don't know what to do with you, Miss Stackhouse."

"Do with me?" she asked.

Heimdall replied, "What are we supposed to do together?"

"I don't know."

"I don't understand your boyfriend comment. Why would you call me that?"

"Aren't you?"

"If you mean it in a socializing way, I don't think so."

"Socializing?"

"We do things as a couple. I do not want to go out to a restaurant or share a meal with you. You work every night so we cannot go to a movie."

"We could watch a movie here, or at your place."

"My place is Eric's home. The only time he invited you there, you did not believe werewolves were dangerous and sought to interrogate them. It was concern for your safety."

"What stops you from watching a movie with me now?" Sookie asked. She remembered Eric had lured her to his house with the promise of speaking to Heimdall because she wanted him to go with her to Jackson to find Bill. He locked her up for the day, and then introduced her to Alcide.

"Nothing," he replied, standing, and walking over to her. He paused, and Sookie knew he was looking at her work uniform. Even she knew she stank after working lunch and dinner without a vampire hinting.

"Come in, and get comfortable. I'll be right down after I take a quick shower."

Heimdall entered, and Sookie pointed into the living room. "Gran felt we only needed the one T.V. I used to think everyone else was spoiled because they didn't have to watch what their older brother wanted, but once he was playing football and dating, Jason was never home, so Gran and I got to watch the good stuff." She started trotting up the stairs, and called, "I'll be right back."

Sookie changed into a pair of cotton pants and a camisole after her shower. Sleep clothes, but nothing sexy. She was feeling good and awake, and thought that watching a movie was something normal people did together.

Skipping back down the stairs, Sookie asked, "I didn't mention it, but did you look through my movies? Do you want a Tru Blood?"

"No, thank you."

She looked in, and said, "I'm gonna get an iced tea, and I'll be right back."

Heimdall was sitting on one end of the sofa, facing the television. His bag was on the floor, leaning against the furniture next to his feet. He nodded at her.

Carrying the large glass with the ice cubes clinking back into the room with her, Sookie said, "I don't got a lot of movies, and I'm not sure what you've seen before."

"Please choose something you like," Heimdall responded. So far, Sookie's anger had been minimal, and that was only on the porch when he questioned why he should enter the house.

"My favorite's _Gone with the Wind. _That's long, so maybe we can watch half tonight, and half tomorrow."

"Tomorrow I cannot come. I am working at Fangtasia, followed by tutoring."

"I thought Fangtasia wasn't open yet."

"It's not, but Lafayette offered to start work early to help me."

"Help you what?"

"Perform."

Sookie looked horrified, "Lafayette? I don't know. He's flamboyant and stuff, but I don't think his style would fit you."

"Pam is in charge of my style, and Eric has seen Lafayette dance. They agree that I should behave more like Lafayette than myself. Besides, what is wrong with Lafayette? He cared enough about you to go to Ruston when you were dying in the hospital. He said nice things."

"Of course he cares! I like him, but you do know that Lafayette likes men, right?"

"I see no problem with that."

"Okay. I just wanted you to know if he taught you some kind of thing, that it might be interpreted that you also prefer men."

Heimdall shrugged, rather than letting Sookie continue trying to convince him that Eric and Pam were wrong. Sookie was convinced Eric was always wrong, even when Eric was trying to tell her things that should be common sense, like werewolves were dangerous.

Sookie put the movie in, and made one last comment on the subject as she fiddled with the remotes. "I don't think Eric should be makin' ya do anything ya don't want to."

When Heimdall didn't reply again, Sookie decided to sit further from him. She hadn't meant to start an argument with him.

When they're visiting Twelve Oaks in the movie, Heimdall shifted and surprised Sookie by laying his head in her lap. Gingerly, she touched his hair. That stuff was in it to make those twisted locks, but the roots near his scalp were clean.

He had seen this movie when it was rereleased in 1967 with Klaus, his former companion. Isabel said he could not pass as American if he never saw _Gone with the Wind._ Both Klaus and him felt it was overly dramatic, and that Scarlett caused herself problems, outside of the war going on around her. The story could have been much shorter, without all her feminine scheming. He missed Klaus. After he died, Godric did not want any more companions. It was too painful to lose Klaus.

As it turned out, Sookie was right. The movie was too long to start watching early in the morning after a long day at work. She woke up on the couch with the sun shining in through the sheer curtains. Heimdall must have thrown one of Gran's afghans over her when he left.

She got up and staggered into the kitchen for coffee, B-12 and garlic supplements. On her way upstairs to take another shower so she could get all nice and smoothly shaven for work, Sookie noticed a stain on the front of her pants. Shit, her period. Wait, no, it wasn't. Heimdall? Making a face as she leaned closer, Sookie stuck her tongue out. Yeah, vampire blood. Strong too. Did he stay to watch the rest of the movie and start crying? With a sigh, she put the pants aside to soak the stain out before throwing them in the wash.

_Another author's note_: Yeah, this will go into book 4, _Dead to the World_, which is lots of Eric. True Blood is hinting that season 4 will have similarities. This is my favorite book, or a tie with _All Together Dead _(7, or summit in Rhodes). I think I previously explained there is a major time gap created between True Blood Season 3 – sultry summer, and SVM Book 3 – Sookie thinking about Christmas with/without missing Bill. SVM Book 4 starts New Year's day. Sometimes the books have long (to Sookie) periods of time with Sookie hearing nothing from vampires, and getting frustrated with them because time passes differently for them. However, I felt between summer and New Year's things should be happening, but I at least had school start (Arlene's kids) and Sookie worrying about mowing the grass one last time so summer's done now in this story.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 9**

Eric jolted into awareness, full of anger, and thoughts that perhaps this time his maker and him had pushed their bond too far. They were like one when they defeated Russell Edgington. The two of them had never been closer in that way. Eric overriding any doubts if death was the right solution. He got the result he desired, and continued to dream of his maker frequently. It was pleasing to dream of them together, however, Godric lived many years without him. Lately, Eric had been mostly receiving dreams of his maker's human years. He rarely saw that before when they had strengthened their bond. To Eric, this change meant something was wrong to have such pain pouring from his best friend.

Today's dream was not a new one. To rid himself of emotion, Eric actually breathed while looking to his side to confirm his maker was still curled up resting, even though it was already three in the afternoon. He did not want feelings, and it was useless to be angry and desire to kill those that had been dead for centuries before even he was born. If Eric had been turned after living such a life, his desire to kill everything would have been equally as great.

Heimdall claimed he did not remember much of his short human existence, but knew he was not turned properly. He was a vampire by accident, like Sookie was in danger of becoming because Compton kept giving her his blood to quickly make her his part-fae puppet. Perhaps that was Compton's ultimate plan to keep Sookie for himself. As her maker, he could command her to do whatever he wanted. Eric was not entirely sure making her vampire would restore her real thoughts and beliefs since he could not think of a vampire he knew that was a complete Renfield before being turned.

It was easier for Eric to think of the possibilities for Sookie, rather than reviewing the scene replayed in his head again. He cursed the perfection of vampire memory. Dreams did not slip away for vampires. Without Heimdall's blood influencing him, Eric would occasionally relive a moment of his life during his daytime rest. A memory based in fact. Now, Heimdall was on the receiving end of those memories due to drinking so much of Eric's blood since he left Dallas. He complained that Eric seemed to do nothing but have sex. Much like Eric's real human father.

Heimdall was luckier than him. His maker's life as a human was equally dismal sexually. Rape by others and his own maker who used vampire blood to torture Heimdall into the guise of enjoying it, followed by what Eric could only describe as insanity on Heimdall's part because he would mutilate himself in disgust, which resulted in more vampire blood to repair the damage. Eric had enough dreams to piece together that he was gelded so young that the only sexual satisfaction he felt as a teen involved large doses of vampire blood to stimulate him. So far, he had never seen him have human sex with a woman. He doubted he had and did not bother discussing it. Eric remembered his early discussions with Godric regarding vampire and human interactions. His maker's refusal and reluctance shamed Eric now. It was not that he could not be empathic, but that he had not even considered that Godric was not similar, and by virtue of being so long-lived, exceeded Eric in every way.

Things would have been different between them earlier if Eric had known such things about him. As a young vampire, Eric had cravings for more than blood, and at times, the only other being around was Godric. He had believed it was a game to Godric. Eric needed to seduce with hand holding, kissing for hours, and frequently the result would be his maker giving him a hand job and not accepting anything in return. The next time, he would try harder to woo him into a more substantial physical experience. If he tried too hard, Eric sometimes woke up looking up at the stars in the sky because Godric would say 'no', then punctuate it with violence, if Eric persisted.

His human death always gave Eric chills. If the murderer had not shown such anger, it would not be so maddening. Eric did not know the language, however he knew this was not an act of mercy. That Eric could understand. Alone, Heimdall screamed out and his body convulsed. Then he could not move anything but his eyes, with whites turned red, lying immobile, heavily crying tears and gasping since his breathing was impaired. A man came in, yelled and beat him, then grabbed him by the throat and squeezed while laughing in a taunting manner. Heimdall's body had already been limp and unresisting so his actual moment of death was only evident when Eric looked into his eyes.

There was satisfaction in knowing from another dream that Heimdall had killed every last one of them when he rose for the first time, naked and buried with their refuse before they had moved on. He even tore their livestock to pieces.

Eric diverted himself with a memory of Jessica. Bill Compton was almost as incompetent. He did not even feed her once before he brought her to Fangtasia. If Eric had not taken her, Compton could have left her roaming around his parking lot looking for something to eat. Worst maker ever, indeed.

In Viking culture, unfree servants were a constant presence and mostly performed unskilled labor. Eric also considered them assets since there was too much work to be done without them. Their owners were responsible for their well-being, even if they became injured or crippled. Beating them till they were unable to work or dead made no sense. From the dreams, Eric saw his maker was helpless and pathetic as a human slave, without a trace of insolence. It did not matter that he didn't speak the language because Heimdall hardly spoke.

Eric got off the bed, and uselessly paced before sitting back down on the other side of Heimdall. There was no changing what had happened. Whenever Eric tried to discuss his disturbing dreams, his maker claimed not to remember, or that it did not matter since it was so long ago. Besides, vampires and feelings were a dangerous mix. Although Eric believed he did have vampire-like feelings such as anger, a desire for revenge, and a desire to protect his maker. Godric made it clear he did not need or want Eric's protection. Anything that could harm Godric, would destroy Eric. The only rule was survival or death.

Heimdall roused as any vampire normally did. Nothing, then he was awake and aware. Something was not right. Eric was not lying on his back on his side of the bed. He was behind him, wrapped around him.

"Eric?" he asked.

"Yes?" Eric answered neutrally.

"Is something amiss?"

Fingers soothed the other vampire's scalp, as Eric replied, "Your company is the one I most prefer, over all others, master." Eric looked away to clear his head of the images of a boyish Heimdall with bruised temples, raised bumps on his forehead, and black eyes. Remembering everything perfectly from the dreams. He doubted Heimdall even recalled a small portion of it. Eric's human memories were clearer closer to his death. His early ones were hazy. He knew he must have been a child, but it was only flashes of familiarity such as when he stared into a burning fire, or when he visited home and smelled the food, people, and the outdoors and sea. At times, living among foreigners was a boon.

"Is Pam well?" Heimdall inquired.

"Yes. I'd like to talk about you, calf brain."

"Ah. Why?"

"Without you, I'd be nothing."

"What has occurred to make you so maudlin? This is unlike you, Eric."

"I worry for you," Eric replied, and ran his hands along Heimdall's arms before embracing him. "You do not need to carry my messages. I always want you with me."

Heimdall tried to sound unshaken as he bluffed, "What brought this on?" Now that Eric's revenge was complete, he should not need his assistance for anything.

"Your acceptance of how things are. If you want, I'll say you went away, and you could hide here. No pretending that you are a young vampire without a maker. You won't need to be subjected to humans gawking at you, or trying to teach you frivolous facts to pass their meaningless tests."

"What about the problem with drainers?"

"I do not want silver touching you again for any reason."

Heimdall lay quietly thinking that statement over. He had only been silvered once since coming to Shreveport. Their fight against Russell could have easily have gone the other way. Their plan was good. Eric was exposed to the sun too long before Russell came out, and Sookie's blood was strong enough to protect Russell too efficiently, allowing him to retain much of his strength, but even with those errors, they should have prevailed. They should have expected the double cross from Compton, using enslaved Sookie to throw silver at them, while Compton mistakenly thought he had the strength to use his bow. He did realize that a vampire throwing an arrow would act as a stake, but without practice to aim, they did not know who his real target was. Russell would have been difficult to hit with both Eric and Heimdall bodily in the way.

It was understandable that Eric would lament his final death, if he had met it while gaining his revenge on Russell. Eric had been willing to kill himself, as long as it meant Russell also met the true death. Heimdall could offer no less for his child.

When Eric was still young and learning, he had exposed his child to silver multiple times. Eric understood the necessity to recognize the weakness, along with the proper way to react. His child would not want to be reduced to a gibbering weakling in front of others through lack of preparation. Though Heimdall admitted, Eric still growled threateningly.

"Nor I you," Heimdall replied softly.

Eric shifted to cover Heimdall bodily, and kissed his ear lightly. "We can stay in bed as long as you like. You don't even have to get up for the next week, if you don't want."

"Isn't Lafayette supposed to be meeting us tonight at the club?"

"Pam will chase him away."

"I don't think Pam will appreciate you abandoning her to reopen your club, Eric. I will assist you two. I am not sure if it is more dangerous to reopen with all the press, or later, when less are paying attention and our guard is relaxed. Didn't you say some of the openly vampire businesses are not resuming because of all the anti-vampire sentiment Russell stirred up?"

Eric had been reading what other sheriffs communicated on their message board that they shared on the computer. "None of us is Russell Edgington. If any of us here shows that sort of arrogance, I expect you to slap some sense into them."

Heimdall laughed quietly, "I doubt anyone but you wouldn't slap me back."

"I don't see why they would, since they would have time to absorb the truth of your message, as they healed and pulled themselves out of the wall."

"Eric, why do you crave such violence? Using words gives them a chance to agree with reason."

"Words," Eric repeated. "Not everyone's ears are open to you wisdom. You speak the truth, and it hurts us both when you are ignored." It did sadden Eric. He suspected that was part of what bothered his maker. Godric was known to have grown wise, yet rarely asked for his opinion in a meaningful way. There would in rare circumstances conferences requested, such as the recent invention of artificial blood, and the new difficulties facing vampires that led to the Great Revelation. However much vampires argued, they bowed to the Authority's decisions. If a vampire opposed their decision, even if it was closely aligned, they could be made to disappear, no matter what their age or power. The Authority even had a slight hand in Russell Edgington's demise.

"Who do you mean?"

Eric had meant Sookie, but did not wish to speak her name, if Heimdall was not thinking of her. At dawn, when his maker returned, he mentioned he had toppled a tree near her house at her request. Heimdall denied he had trouble with the task, so that left Eric suspicious of the trace of blood on the cuff of the other's sleeve. It was smeared, rather than soaked, as if he wiped it. The smell and taste were of his maker. Eric had plenty of imagination, besides seeing plenty of the hybrid fae's irrational behavior. She asked for a favor, his maker performed it … and knowing how thankful Sookie was, she showed some measure of displeasure with how the deed was done. Heimdall was too close physically to get rid of her. Perhaps Eric could push her far enough that even his maker, who was patient enough to tolerate him, gave up on her.

"Myself, of course. I should heed your words more closely," Eric responded. "Your every utterance should be treasured."

"Have you partaken in bagged blood from an intoxicated individual since you've risen?" Heimdall asked, still attempting to find out why Eric was so odd this afternoon.

"It's simply my intense enjoyment of being with you."

"Thank you," Heimdall murmured, even though he was still suspicious of Eric's motives.

Earlier in Bon Temps, Sookie had to admit, Heimdall did knock that tree down, and it was big. He didn't knock it into her house so that was good. Now she had a giant tree lying on the ground. The major roots on end were as tall as her house. She was still going to have to hire someone, or ask Jason for a major favor. She had a fireplace so didn't have to worry about getting rid of the wood. Might even save on heating.

When she got home from work, in the dark, at past two in the morning, things weren't as she left them. Normally, she went through the door on the back porch into the kitchen. Now she couldn't because some asshole moved the damned tree and dropped it on the back porch of her house, crushing the stairs and roof of her porch. She had to go through the house and look out back with a flashlight to check on her washer and dryer.

After trying Heimdall's phone number, and getting Eric's nasty message that 'This number is not checked for voice mails. Don't bother leaving a message.' She dug out the paper from Fangtasia and called the private number.

A male voice answered, "Fangtasia."

"Can I speak to Heimdall, if he's there?"

"May I ask who is calling?"

Sookie wasn't sure if it was Chow or Clancy, so just said, "Sookie Stackhouse."

"Let me check, Miss Stackhouse."

She got annoyed that he didn't get on the phone immediately, but he did pick up eventually. There was no music playing wherever he was in the club. "Miss Stackhouse?"

"Listen, you asshole, I didn't find it very funny to come home and find that tree moved."

"Yesterday or today?" Heimdall asked. If Sookie had a complaint, why hadn't she told him while he was there?

"Tonight. It's on my porch."

"I can come over tomorrow, and drag it away from your house."

"I don't need you doing me any favors. Why the fuck did you drop it on my house?"

"I pushed it so it fell into the yard last night, not your house."

"Then you came back tonight and threw it on my house."

"I didn't do that," he responded.

"Don't lie to me."

"I am not lying. I have been here all evening."

"Like I'd believe a word out of your lying vampire mouth."

"Could you please listen?"

"No, you listen. There's … a … tree … on … my … house."

"I did not drop a tree on your house tonight. I have been here. Last night the tree fell in your yard. It cannot move itself."

Lafayette had had a good evening, even though Heimdall was clumsy. Pam kept on their case, but it was mostly on Heimdall's, until Lafayette tried something tricky, and dropped Heimdall on his head. Boy didn't even show anger over that. So now, from what he overheard, Sookie called up to accuse the twink of something and called him a liar, when Lafayette had been with him for hours, except for the past thirty minutes when he'd been sitting on the other side of the room with some woman that was trying to teach him math. Lafayette was sitting here, having a refreshing drink and cooling down before his drive home. He advised, "Just hang the motherfuckin' phone up on that crazy bitch."

Sookie overheard the comment and said, "Are there people listening?"

"I am at Fangtasia. Didn't you call me here?"

"I know, but I thought you'd be in Eric's office … wait, did Eric do this?"

"We are both at the club. Please stop with these accusations."

"If you didn't do it, then it was him."

"No," Heimdall responded. "Your need for an argument is making you say hurtful things."

"I didn't move the fucking tree."

"I am not saying you did. I cannot have a discussion with you when you are being unreasonable. Good night."

"Wait ..." she started, but heard the audible noise of the phone being hung up. The bastard hung up on her. He was almost right. She wasn't listening to him. If Heimdall didn't move the tree over to her house, or even Eric, though why would Eric do that. Who did?

At Fangtasia, Pam had come out of the back of the club and saw Heimdall over by the bar, rather than with the tutor. Eric hadn't trusted Bobby with the job of finding one, and thought Pam would scare off anyone that did not like vampires from the list of local ones provided by the state. Pam had taken the task seriously, and had even tried to understand what was 'new math', or the 'new new math', or were they on the 'new new new math'? Eric liked the name of 'Saxon math', but neither of them thought the name meant it was actually a practical way of teaching.

"Are you already taking a break since you've mastered trigonometry now, or are you flirting with Lafayette?"

"Neither. I will return to the other side of the room, Pam."

"Good," she replied. If the tutor was not working out, Pam would listen to him, but with others around, she had to appear not to care what Heimdall thought.

Lafayette felt he had overstayed his welcome now that he briefly had Pam's attention again. He suspected she could be crueler than Eric, and that was saying a lot. She had grabbed Heimdall by the hair earlier, and smashed his face into the floor, when her harsh words were not effective.

When Eric returned to the public area, Heimdall asked him, "Should I skip tutoring and attempt to drag that tree away from Sookie's house?" He couldn't let others know he was strong enough to move something that big. Only a much older vampire could.

"No, I _forbid_ you from doing any other favors for Miss Stackhouse. You can save her life or keep her from getting maimed, but that's it," Eric replied.

Pam sneered, "She won't like that either. After all that griping 'bout her fuckin' driveway, Heimdall goes and fixes it for her, and she's ready to stake him over rocks."

Eric prompted, "Heimdall?"

"Yes, master," he replied despondently. His tutoring session was not going well. The woman was nice and did not insult him, but she was so boringly repetitive. His memory was good that he could repeat back anything she said back to her, but he could not apply that to what she wanted him to attempt so she'd say it again.

Pam crossed her arms over her chest. First it was Eric, now Heimdall. Sookie felt her problems, which she mostly created for herself, had to come first for any of them. Tonight it was a tree near her house, which she was turning into a one-of-a-kind, modern Cajun pueblo.

Sookie hurt Heimdall, which hurt Eric, which trickled down to her. Not even a thanks for saving her from Russell, risking the true death for themselves, because Bill Compton did it all. If the Queen ever let William Compton walk under the night sky again, Pam so dearly wanted to stake his ass. Not for Sookie, but for creating such a crazed lunatic with his blood that it disturbed every supernatural for miles. It would be a public service.

She watched the tutoring from a distance for as long as she could. It was mind-numbing while being painful at the same time to see a pile of triangular markers being pushed around between them. Mostly by the tutor, counting aloud. The person that her maker most admired, well, she admired Godric, or Heimdall, too, could not count a pile of objects. He did know one through twenty in English, but now Pam formed the impression that the name of a number was an abstract concept to Heimdall.

When his lesson was over, Heimdall asked Eric, who was waiting to go home with him, "Are we going to Bon Temps?"

"No."

"But what about that tree?"

"I don't care about a tree," Eric responded.

"She said it fell on her house. I did not leave it on her house."

Eric wanted to respond it was not the house itself, but the rotting back porch that needed replacement years ago, but then Heimdall would know he had been there earlier if he disputed the extent of Sookie's problem. He asked, "Who would do such a thing?"

"Fairies?"

"Wasn't Sookie very angry with you?"

"Yes, she is."

"Who benefits from that?"

Heimdall shrugged. Sookie was angry most of the time so fairies didn't need to provoke her. She inherited their foul temper and self-centered attitude.

"My suggestion is you give her time to reconsider, since the damage to her house is already done, and when she has had a few calm moments, she will undoubtedly call and apologize for accusing you."

"I don't think she will."

"Haven't I already pointed out to you that Sookie expects you to do exactly as she wants, when she wants, and in the manner she wants it?"

"I repeated that to her when she last called me."

"Did she deny it?"

"She changed the subject."

"Wait till she apologizes. You may be the mature and reasonable one, but you cannot keep allowing her to always be on the attack with you. She chooses the place, forum and topic. How many times has she called you on the telephone to argue, when she knows you don't like using telephones? Sookie also does not want you entering Merlotte's, when she knows you have reason to be there, other than her. She has also given you a list of unreasonable conditions, correct?" Eric was sure even he was quicker to offer apologies than Sookie Stackhouse.

"Yes, Eric," Heimdall agreed sadly. He was not to feed from her, have sex with her, give her presents, although it was not clear now whether she wanted cash or not since she admitted she wanted a large loan that she had no means of repaying, especially since she made no promises to no longer seek deadly danger as a show of good faith.

"Forget that call. What about Lafayette? You were smiling while you were with him."

"Lafayette is patient with me. Pam was critical of both of us."

"It was mostly you, till Lafayette's hands slipped and he dropped you."

"We are not going to try that again, and I recall you have dropped me too."

"I was shot multiple times," Eric reminded him.

"I do not like flying."

"You used to say that about bathing and swimming too."

"No, I do not like traveling by water in a ship."

"When are you going to outgrow your love of dirt?" Eric teased.

"The earth is still part of becoming vampire."

"That is correct," Eric agreed.

"We can look at the tree and Sookie's house, without talking to her, unless there is something that we should warn her about. I didn't look for werewolves tonight, so whatever did this is watching her house closely."

Eric was not happy that Heimdall returned his focus to Sookie, but agreed to go with him. He would have to lie carefully.

Between the two of them, they were able to get the branch of the tree off Sookie's back porch. Heimdall did not smell fairy, but something strong had to have moved this. He only had a short list of vampires that lived in the area, himself or Eric, and then thought of other things as they dragged the tree into the woods behind Sookie's house before returning to Shreveport before dawn.

When they prepared for resting, Eric edged into Heimdall and requested, "I'd like to hold you while you rest today, master."

"Why?" Heimdall asked.

"It makes me happy to open my eyes and find you in my arms. If you want, we'll go sleep in dirt, like we did long ago."

"I'll concede that you are right, and beds are more comfortable." He shifted himself and a pillow so the top of his head was under Eric's chin, and positioned his limbs to mingle with his child's. In the past, it was easier to dig a hole slightly bigger than Eric and tuck himself against the larger vampire. Eric preferred to allow him to do the work so he did not get his fingernails dirty. Vikings. If there was one group in the Dark Ages of Europe that cared about their grooming, it was the Vikings. Combing their hair, cleaning their teeth and ears, they even bathed once a week, whether they needed it or not. The English may have been right for once, the Scandinavians did it to steal away their women.

While they were pleasantly resting in Shreveport, Sookie was grumbling to herself in her kitchen while making coffee when she realized there was a lot of sunlight on the back porch. Her porch roof was still smashed, and there was lots of splintered wood, but the huge ass tree was missing. She went out back, and saw a deep groove where it had been dragged off into the woods. What the fuck?

Sookie stomped back into the house, and got out her phone book to call her, or actually Gran's, insurance agent, Greg Aubert. He was local so said he'd drive by later to look at the damage and write up the claim.

Greg saw the porch and took a couple pictures. Sookie claimed that a tree did the damage, and a vampire friend of hers had moved it already. He had heard about Adele's granddaughter dating that William Compton, who spoke at the Glorious Descendants of the Dead meeting. And to think, they always thought Jason was the wild one.

"You should have waited before having it moved, Sookie. A photo with the tree down would have been nice. We haven't had high winds lately so you didn't have to worry about that wind damage clause.

"Speaking of wind, since there was none, was there any sign of what knocked the tree over?"

"It was dark, when I got home last night, and the vampire moved it by the time I got up," Sookie answered. "By the way, I got a broken window upstairs that's boarded up now. I took out the broken glass, but haven't called to get an estimate to get it repaired."

"That happen last night?"

"No."

"Do you know what caused it?"

"Some woman was mad at me, and broke it."

"File a police report?" Greg asked.

"No."

"One window that got broken, and separate from the incident with your porch … it's a separate claim, and I don't know if it'll be expensive enough to exceed the deductible. There's also two claims at once, Sookie. Your premium might go up next year."

Something was not making sense to Greg, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Other than the vampire boyfriend, Sookie was a good girl, even if there had been crazy rumors about her reading minds or whatever. If it was some sort of fraud, there'd be more stuff smashed up, rather than the old screened-in porch. Tree didn't actually hit the house proper, and the porch was added later. Even missed Adele's old, harvest gold-colored washer and dryer.

Pity that the girl was not a good housekeeper. The kitchen was clean, and the living room was tidy, but the walls could seriously use some paint inside, and then there was outside. Greg could not think of any good reason why mud was … thrown? … against the exterior of the house. He had to admit the driveway looked perfect. It was new because he sometimes came down the parish road when going to Merlotte's, if he was going to lunch there from a customer's house. Bit ass backwards to get a new driveway while letting the house fall apart. Greg knew what they said about first impressions, but any good will that the driveway incurred was wiped out by the mud spattered house.

Sookie could tell Greg was suspicious. Her grandmother never had claims, even though accidents happen. A tree falling over was an accident. Someone smashing her window, and Sookie couldn't be bothered to call the police did not sound accidental. He also had a swirl of thoughts about Bill and how disappointed Adele would be with how the house looked. Of course, it was all in his head so Sookie had no reason to point out that vampires, werewolves, maenads, fairies and whatever were the problem. Not her.

*** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood ***

It wasn't till Lafayette got a chance to talk to Jesus that Lafayette guessed it was whenever Heimdall had to think about what to do that he ran into trouble. Jesus was more interested in getting Heimdall to give them information about Eric, and possibly Pam too.

Hesitant to use the young vampire, Lafayette tried to find a reason why he shouldn't trust him by talking to Sookie at Merlotte's. She obviously was on his case too with her calling up to bitch at him while he was at Fangtasia.

"Hey Sook, I don't know if you know, but I'm sort of working with Heimdall at Fangtasia, and I can't figure him out. Anything you can tell me about him?"

"What?"

"Eric noticed I like dancing, and because of his age, Heimdall can't do much around the bar, so they're asking him to work as one of the dancers. Because he's got a bad sense of rhythm or whatever, he's not good at it so he's getting paired up with me to see if he can learn something."

"Yeah, he mentioned that."

"Okay, so last night was rough since he can do some vampire type moves if I tell him to, but then he comes to a complete halt, or gets his left confused with his right. I didn't have to be mean since Pam gave him a reaming out every fifteen minutes or so for wasting everyone's time. So my question is what's his thing? He didn't even say 'boo' when Pam broke his nose, or I dropped him on his head. For a vampire, he's too quiet and never complains or boasts, like when I asked about taking a break. Heimdall agreed every time, without ever saying anything bad."

"Was there a question in that?"

"Sort of. I know you called mad at him, and no one seems to like him so that's what I'm asking. What is his problem?"

"What do you mean no one likes him?"

"Just that. Why?"

"I called up because I was angry, but I know it really wasn't him that did it."

"So is that something everyone does? Pick on him, 'cause he's just there and doesn't fight back?"

"He could fight back," Sookie replied. "It takes a while, but Heimdall does get angry."

"So nothing I should have to worry about or watch out for, if I'm not pushing him?"

"No, you shouldn't worry about him attacking you or anything. I'm not sure if he even thinks of regular humans as food."

Lafayette was wondering if perhaps Heimdall might not be a good ally, after all. A little encouragement could do wonders for someone's ego. His biggest problems were Eric and Pam. Without them, Heimdall would probably be as tractable as Eddie.

In Shreveport, Heimdall practiced with Jessica that evening. Pam was more hands-on than she was with Lafayette. For vampires, Jessica and Heimdall could make themselves move in the most mundane manner. Jessica finally got the idea when Hoyt gave a loud 'whoot!'.

Hoyt was jealous of Heimdall dancing with Jessica, and didn't like Pam suggesting they have more physical contact to disguise their lack of skill. At least the boyish vampire did not do anything without Jessica or Pam pulling him around or placing his hands.

Heimdall was distracted while with Jessica. If Magnus were still alive, he would not stand for the mockery Compton made of his decision. Making a vampire and releasing her after a few short weeks was unthinkable.

After Jessica and her human left, Heimdall asked Eric, "When the Authority chooses a new Magister, will you bring to his, or her, attention that Compton dumped his progeny as soon as Magnus died because he did not fear reprisal?"

"What will that do?"

"If Compton lives, he will face punishment."

"If he lives, I'd rather stake him than have him secure in a coffin for years," Eric complained.

"Eric, you can't stake any vampire you don't like."

"Why not? It's not like anyone is left that likes him. The Queen? His maker? His friends got burned by humans when they moved to Bon Temps with him."

"Jessica?"

"He didn't even see she got a meal when she first crawled out of the dirt, and left her with nothing when he released her. If I didn't use her GED as an excuse, she probably wouldn't have a single decent lock on that shack they're renting."

"You're right," Heimdall said. "Again."

"I'm not always. You make me think things through."

"You are prosperous without my aid."

"I do not feel prosperous unless I can share it with you."

"Why are you saying such things, Eric? I am worried that you have repeated this for a couple days. Are you well?"

"Of course. I'm with you."

Eric leaned close, placing his hands on Heimdall's cheeks, giving him a closed-mouth kiss.

Unsure of what Eric planned, Heimdall remained quiet. If Eric had carnal intentions, he'd know soon enough.

When nothing else odd occurred, other than Eric wanting to hold him while they rested again, Heimdall asked the following evening, "Do you miss Yvetta?"

"Yvetta? Why?"

"I was thinking that her being here was strange. Estonia is nice. A cardiologist is not likely to decide to become a dancer, and why did she choose Shreveport? Perhaps someone you know back home glamoured her."

"To do what?"

"I'm not sure. You usually do not make wild promises, so I was surprised by her angry outburst."

"I did not promise her anything regarding wealth."

Heimdall mused, "Do you have any idea where she went?"

"No, and I don't care."

"Perhaps you should find out."

"Why?" Eric asked.

"If she is still around, she is angry with you."

"That was not my doing."

"Women sometimes have unrealistic expectations."

Eric sighed, then agreed, "I will have someone check," before this became another conversation about Sookie Stackhouse.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 10**

Lafayette was nervous, as he waited. The only vampire that had come to his house before wasn't motherfucking invited to come over. Eric showed up whenever and wherever he liked, and probably without a single thought of how Lafayette felt about the relationship he never wanted to have with the Viking vampire. Why couldn't he lurk outside of Jason Stackhouse's windows? Jason Stackhouse lived one fucking charmed life.

He wasn't sure about Jesus' plan on screwing over Eric. It may just piss him off, and as Eric pointed out, his house was not strong enough to put up with a gale-force wind or an angry, thousand-year old Norseman.

Working at Fangtasia's since it reopened was bringing in more cash than he had imagined. Almost as good as dealing, yet this was legal. Lafayette did feel some trepidation over letting Heimdall push tips his way, but when he checked with Jessica, Heimdall was doing that to her too. Boy had no God-given sense at all.

Heimdall's problems made him sort of like a vampire babe-in-the-woods, but Lafayette had looked up that name that Eric gave him. Heimdall was the Norse god that created mankind. So what the fuck did Eric see in him that no one else did? Or did Eric give everyone he met some sort of motivational pep talk, like some motherfucking deranged life coach?

The doorbell rang. All right, Jesus said he'd stop by in a little while. All Lafayette had to do was be … not appetizing, or whatever.

Outside, Heimdall was still having second thoughts about accepting Lafayette's invitation. Knowing where Lafayette lived was a plus, since he did check around Sookie's house when he was in Bon Temps. He could do that for Lafayette too. It was still not clear why Bon Temps attracted supernatural activity, besides the fairy portal in their cemetery. Most fairy gateways were no longer in use because it took a fairy to make it work. There was rumor that imbibing fairy blood could grant passage, however so many things about fairies were blatantly untrue.

He had said 'yes' when Lafayette invited him. Heimdall didn't see why he shouldn't, but then Pam and Eric were amused. Eric went further and suggested Lafayette would make an entertaining human pet. Heimdall did not want a pet. He was done with it. Once the situation with the fairies was settled, and Sookie's sworn werewolf enemy was found, perhaps he could release her. She still had his blood, so he would feel her death, but it was inevitable with the way she behaved.

Lafayette opened the door, and said, "Hey. Didn't hear a car."

"I don't drive. This is for you," Heimdall said, extending the boxed bottle of Hennessy.

Someone paid attention. Lafayette did not drink alcohol all night while he worked, but this was his preferred drink, when he could afford it, or when he was not asked to pay, like at Fangtasia. Wait, this was Hennessy Paradis, not VS.

The vampire felt a moment of doubt when Lafayette stared at the gift. People still brought small presents when they visited homes? He noticed Lafayette did not order wine at Fangtasia. A glass or two of Hennessey early in the evening, then he switched to sparkling water. He certainly was not going to bring him those things he smoked. They reeked worse than cigarettes.

Cautious, both of Eric and calling the vampire in front of him a thief, Lafayette tried, "Oh, I guess you couldn't buy this on your own, but … you did let someone know you took this from Fangtasia or wherever you got it?"

"Yes, Eric said I could have it."

"Okay," Lafayette replied, relieved.

"The law regarding Jessica and I touching alcohol does not make sense, since we cannot drink."

"Right," Lafayette agreed. So he picked up that he was worried, but not that he was afraid Eric would chain him up in his basement for receiving stolen goods from a simpleton who had no idea how much anything cost since money meant nothing to him.

Heimdall waited, then asked, "Am I invited inside?"

"Of course. I didn't invite you over to … come in. Please," Lafayette added, stepping aside.

"Thank you."

His eyes were immediately drawn to the religious imagery that Lafayette had on display. Heimdall did not recognize all the figures and pointed to one and asked, "Who's that?"

"Legba. He opens the way."

"The way?" Heimdall repeated. He had never heard of Legba, and he considered himself well-read regarding scripture and interpretive works.

"Legba guards the crossroads, and without him there is no gate to contact others."

"I don't understand. Which book or books is he referenced in?"

"Book?"

"The Old or New Testament?"

"Oh no, he's not Christian."

"Why is that displayed with the others? Aren't you endangering your soul by keeping them together? The first commandment is clear on that."

"Mary's not God."

"No, but the honoring of Mary and other saints is allowed in most Christian sects," Heimdall explained.

"What does it matter, who I got in here?"

"Lafayette, you shouldn't be risking your soul."

"Uh … don't worry about it." This is not what Lafayette expected to discuss with a vampire. Ever. It didn't help that Heimdall looked so earnest. He was serious about this shit, and sounded like he really cared about Lafayette. He joked, "And if ya got a Watchtower on you, keep it."

"Watch Tower?"

"Ya sound like a Jehovah Witness or someone else trying to save me, boyfriend. Why don't you sit down and stop lookin' at things?"

Heimdall sat and stopped talking. He was definitely sure that other idols should not be mixed in with Christian images. Did Lafayette believe that homosexuals were already damned, like vampires? Some religions allowed homosexual clergy so that couldn't be true.

Lafayette hadn't been expecting Heimdall to really sit when told, so backtracked, "Sorry, I got on your case like that. You probably get that a lot. You're right about the first commandment. If I was strictly into it, I shouldn't have Xango and Legba sharing the same space."

"If I feel love for you, Lafayette, as I do all men, how could I not wish for your good? You don't worry about your soul?" Heimdall doubted that is why Eric suggested he take on Lafayette as his human, but at least Heimdall could communicate with him about something they had in common.

"Not really. My belief's sort of a mixture of shit. I don't mean to sound uncaring, it is important to lots of people, and I guess you're one of them."

"I wouldn't want someone to be damned, if they could avoid it. I do not have that choice for myself."

"Why not?"

"I'm vampire."

"I doubt that makes a difference, Heimdall. You're a nice vampire. The first time I saw ya's, you saved someone's life."

"Yes, but it was against her will. Miss Stackhouse set out to break our agreement as soon as she could to show her contempt for me."

"Uh no, I'm pretty sure Sookie likes being alive," Lafayette refuted. "She hasn't been herself since that Bill Compton moved to town."

"She had much of his blood. Her ability to make decisions that were in her best interest were removed. I have noticed she enjoys arguments and violence. Even when it is not in Compton's best interest, she starts conflicts."

"No, not Sookie."

"Yes, I've seen her verbally insult and goad vampires into attacking her."

"Eric?"

"No, I don't think Eric would. Yet. Miss Stackhouse also takes time to study her subject to target her insults. Eric does not have flaws so her verbal attacks on him lack substance."

"Hey, I don't want to start an Eric Northman fan club. He's got flaws."

Heimdall looked at him expectantly.

Lafayette was supposed to be getting information from Heimdall on Eric, not the other way around. "He's in Shreveport, Louisiana. How do you rate that as successful?"

"We are also in Louisiana."

"I ain't successful, and I'm full of flaws," Lafayette admitted. "You shouldn't be here. You don't even sound like one of us. Where you from again?"

"I don't know. I was found in eastern Texas with other young vampires. The local sheriff there sent me to live with Eric and learn what I wasn't taught."

"But vampires remember being human."

"I don't recall anything. I think I wasn't fed. Eric thinks that perhaps I was turned because I was quite sick. Some vampires take money to turn people." Heimdall and Eric thought it best to use him as a lesson on why becoming a vampire was not glamorous, rather than crafting an elaborate history, consisting of experiences neither of them had. Not everyone came through the turning with their wits intact. Humans did not understand the respect due a maker, and greedy vampires who would accept money to turn a human didn't deserve it.

Lafayette knew Eddie bought his turning, so it didn't surprise him. "What makes him think that?" he asked.

"A lot was done to alter my appearance at an inappropriate age, if the dentist that looked at my teeth guessed correctly. If I did not have these tattoos, other marks would be the first thing mentioned when describing me."

"No, it'd be your eyes. You have such clear, blue eyes."

"Many have blue eyes," Heimdall replied while turning his gaze to the floor.

"You like listening to Eric?"

"With my memory so limited, it is hard to say, yet I remember things now so I believe he must be taking proper care of me."

Lafayette was not liking this plan at all. If Jesus did do something to Eric, or Eric thought Heimdall helped them, what would happen to him? He was supposed to keep Heimdall talking and get him to tell him things about Eric. 'Flawless' was not going to help anyone, except Eric's giant motherfucking ego.

"Did'ja want to listen to some music? We could dance."

Heimdall replied, "You know I'm not much of a dancer, Lafayette, but I will, if you want."

"We could watch some television," he alternately suggested. Lafayette was now decided he did not want to talk with Heimdall about Eric. They'd have to find something else on their own, or Jesus better come to his senses and not mess with that motherfucker at all.

"Whichever you prefer."

"We're not at work. You can say you don't want to dance." Lafayette guessed Heimdall didn't mind because there were a couple of instances, prior to Heimdall catching sight of Legba and Xango, that did provoke a response out of him. Smoking, and eating something that had a lingering smell did elicit negative comments.

"I should try to get better."

He had to admit the vampire had no innate sense of rhythm, and could fake it better, however, it would be because of Eric that he wanted to improve. Not a bad idea to do what Eric wanted, until things changed. What Jesus was talking about was crazy. If no one put a dent in the Viking in a thousand years, what made Jesus think he could? Jesus thinking he was a brujo was nothing close to all-powerful. Lafayette still couldn't forget the way Jesus looked when coming off that V trip with him. It was best not to mess with that shit.

"You don't think I will improve, do you?" Heimdall asked, noticing Lafayette's sour expression.

"No, I think dancing's not one of your strong points."

Heimdall nodded, then admitted, "With man this is impossible, and for vampires even more so."

"That sounds familiar, except for the vampire part."

"It's from Matthew. With God all things are possible."

"You remember the Bible?"

"Yes, my memory is now very good, and I remember what I read."

"Eric lets you read that?"

"I enjoy reading. Eric gave me an electronic book reader."

Lafayette had noticed it. He wasn't sure how Eric chose how to express his generosity. Lafayette got the fancy car, and Heimdall got something to keep him quiet. He doubted Eric asked what he read as long as he didn't bother him. A vampire reading the Bible of all the fucking things.

"You watch American Idol?" Lafayette asked.

"What's that?"

"A singing competition."

Giving Lafayette an odd look, Heimdall commented, "Singing is not hard for vampires. We mimic what we hear."

"This is for humans. They have the contestants standing outside in line for days, so I don't think there's been any vampires."

"Not that. I thought you meant that I should learn to sing, since my dancing is not satisfactory."

"You ain't that bad," Lafayette replied.

Jesus briefly thought of watching from the window when he arrived, then thought that a vampire would know he was lurking out there so he went right to the door and rang the bell.

Lafayette answered and gave a shy, "Uh, hi."

At first he thought that good, but after looking at the expectant looking vampire's young face, he noticed that American Idol was on Lafayette's television. Jesus looked at Lafayette questioningly.

"Heimdall had never heard of American Idol so I thought he should give it a chance."

Jesus' look turned into a stare. What did Lafayette mean by that? Did the vampire come onto him, or give Lafayette some trouble that he needed to distract him with a television show? There were a couple spells he could use now that might get a vampire to think twice about ever touching Lafayette. Jesus had been talking to some others, and with vampires being public now, witches and others of the magical, yet normal, breathing community, were taking them and defense against them more seriously.

"Hello," Heimdall said quietly to the man that he knew Lafayette was involved with. Jesus was tense about something, yet Lafayette and he had not been doing anything inappropriate. Lafayette had faint traces of magic, but this one was more solid, and not with the kind of magic that helped others. He was in no position to advise Lafayette, but he would help Lafayette if this man attempted to harm him.

Putting on a smile, Jesus replied, "Hi. Lafayette said he'd be inviting you 'round since you work closely."

"Yes," Heimdall agreed.

"My friend brought me a bottle. I was thinking of opening it, if you're in the mood, Jesus."

It took a moment before Jesus realized Lafayette meant some sort of drink. He had gotten stuck on the word 'friend'. Was that some code, or was his boyfriend trying to warn him not to act unfriendly? The two of them certainly couldn't beat any information out of a vampire, so a honeyed approach was necessary. He replied, "That would be great."

Lafayette did not want to blurt out anything that Heimdall could hear. He wanted to tell Jesus he changed his mind, and that could wait, unless his boyfriend got all nosy about Eric with Heimdall. He'd also like to point out that this wasn't just any old bottle of brandy they were going to drink. Lafayette liked to think of himself deserving of better things, and wanted to enjoy this gift. However, he'd like Jesus to appreciate it too, rather than guzzling it down.

Jesus got the idea from Lafayette pointing at the words 'rare cognac' on the bottle that he should act like this was something special. Anyone could plop the word 'rare' in front of a description of their product. Not that he followed entertainment news by choice, but there were always a ton of magazines left lying around at work, Jesus knew Hennessy's what Kanye West drank and blamed his rude behavior on. Nothing rare about that.

Really, it was brandy. Brandy burned all the way down, and luckily this left the pleasant warm feeling, rather than the burn continuing in Jesus' gut. He smiled at Lafayette and Heimdall, and gave a appreciative nod after that first small sip.

Lafayette took his time and swirled it around his glass before tasting it. Oh shit. This was the real motherfucking thing. Not that he thought it was fake, but he had never had this blend before. He was afraid to know how much this cost because he didn't want it to be his one and only bottle. There was a brief errant thought that went through his mind. Lafayette sucked cock for V, would he do it for Paradis? No, Heimdall had nothing in common with Eddie. Eddie seemed harmless, but this boy was sweet. There'd be none of that. He'd probably get him some more if Lafayette asked nice, or perhaps prayed with him or some other God damned shit. Damn, now he was choking up thinking how terrible others must have treated his ass. Lafayette knew that kind of pain himself, but Heimdall seemed to be happy as a motherfucking clam with Eric 'flawless' Northman. Another bastard living one fucking, incredibly long, charmed life.

Jesus said, "Lafayette says you work with him every time he's at Fangtasia."

"Yes," Heimdall agreed. "He is very good at entertaining."

"That's what you do too?"

"Only because I am vampire, and it is a vampire club. I do not have the skill or experience that Lafayette possesses."

"What do you do when Lafayette's not there?"

"I work with Jessica. She is also a young vampire, and turned too young."

"Can't you do what Eric does? Doesn't he sit on a throne for everyone to see him?"

"That is Eric's position. Many come to admire Eric."

"Do you admire him?"

Lafayette coughed, then interrupted when both looked at him, "Sorry, I just got a thing 'bout him."

"You should have gone to a doctor about your leg, Lafayette. Vampire blood, even when given as a gift, is not a substitute for medical care. The side effects are a heavy price to pay," Heimdall warned.

"I didn't mean that, but yeah, I have a lot of dreams 'bout that motherfucker."

"Language," Heimdall lowly reminded.

"Right, sorry."

"So have you given anyone your blood?" Jesus asked.

Heimdall admitted, "Lafayette witnessed it. Eric would have been preferable, but he wasn't present. Time was short."

"I'd'a preferred you. Least I like the looks of you."

Shaking his head, Heimdall said, "No, Eric is desirable. I am not."

"Stop thinkin' 'bout her. She got her head messed with by one of the worst. Sookie can't accept that there's people out there that're truly nice."

"I've met her," Jesus said. "You gave Sookie Stackhouse your blood?"

"Yeah," Lafayette answered, " 'cause her no good vampire boyfriend, William Compton, drained her, and the hospital couldn't match her blood type to give her a transfusion."

"That's impossible," Jesus said. He was a nurse after all, and knew about these things. Maybe not getting drained by vampires, because he was licensed before the Revelation, but he understood blood transfusions. "Everyone can be matched. Was there a blood shortage?"

"That might have been it," Heimdall agreed. Sookie's blood was related to her fae heritage.

"No, you came later, after we'd given up on her. It was they couldn't match it," Lafayette insisted. "They gave us some shit that her blood didn't match up to any known type."

"Everyone can receive O," Jesus corrected. "By the way, you got a favorite blood type, Heimdall?"

He shook his head in response, "I try not to get hungry enough to need blood from people."

Lafayette already saw this with Heimdall when some crazy fangbangers practically stabbed themselves to get the boy's attention. He was cautious of strangers. Stronger than any of them, and he was scared to let them even touch him. If they got too close and touchy feely, Heimdall'd climb up the pole to get away from them.

"Never?" Jesus asked.

"Hardly ever," Heimdall lied. "I try to ask permission, if I do."

"Did you want to feed from either of us?"

"No, I'm not hungry. Thank you."

Lafayette tried not to let his teeth click as he closed his mouth that had dropped open in surprise at his lover's question. Why would Jesus offer to let a vampire have their blood? It motherfucking hurt.

"What's it like?" Jesus asked.

"Somewhat intimate, due to the physical contact and blood is a bodily fluid. Without it, either of us would die."

"It's not any fun," Lafayette stated, wanting this subject closed. "I had three vampires on me at once, and it was one of the worst pains I ever felt."

Jesus looked at Lafayette. He had mentioned that other vampires had fed on him, and was clear Heimdall was not one of them. Lafayette hadn't mentioned pain before. Jesus could understand terror and fear.

"It can be," Heimdall agreed.

Silence descended, and they ended up really watching American Idol. Lafayette voiced his opinion on all the contestants, and privately felt that the Paradis was being wasted while watching network television.

Heimdall was aware of the humans, yet kept his attention on the show Lafayette recommended. He did not see the appeal, unless it was the part about the phone numbers for the audience to vote.

Jesus would look at Lafayette, who was purposely ignoring him, to the unnatural stillness of the vampire.

The host simply wanted Heimdall to go home so he could tell Jesus he didn't want to do this. Of course, if he lived with Eric, as Lafayette expected, he figured he didn't want to go home. This was seriously fucked up. Now he was caring about a vampire for more than trading him for V.

Heimdall interpreted Lafayette's shifting and glances during the program to mean he wanted someone gone. He doubted it was Jesus so he stood when the program ended, and said, "Thank you for inviting me into your home, Lafayette."

"No, thank you for coming. We'll talk at work and I'll find out more about what you like to do, 'sides reading."

Heimdall nodded and said, "Good night."

"Good night," Jesus replied, wondering if Lafayette found out anything before he arrived.

Once Heimdall left, he started to say something, and Lafayette shook his head, and said, "He's got real good hearing."

"I was only going to ask if you were going to call any of these numbers, La la."

Lafayette rolled his eyes, but then broke into a slow smile.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Very long chapter to get us up to 'Waiting Sucks' preview from HBO.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 11**

Sookie was living to work double shifts at Merlotte's. No vampires demanded she drop everything and go to find someone, or use her ability to read someone's mind to find a human up to no good. In fact, vampires were now leaving her alone, just like she asked, and it was boring as all hell. Yet it be a cold day down below before she called any of them without there being a real life or death emergency.

Even Jessica was turning into just someone at work. Someone at work who had Hoyt showing up all the time so they'd exchange flashes of smile, and talk softly when things were slow while holding hands and looking into each other's eyes.

Sookie knew she was getting desperate when she was standing next to the pick-up window, staring at Lafayette, and after a brief flash of Heimdall, got a graphic image of … how happy Jesus made him.

It wasn't till later, after swearing she wouldn't go eavesdropping on people, and kept it up for days, that a feeling of guilt coupled with a thought of Heimdall's name got Sookie staring at Terry.

"Anything wrong, Terry?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Arlene and the kids good?"

"Yup."

Sookie then realized that was a stupid question because she worked with Arlene earlier in the day.

"Anything else going on?"

"Nope."

Terry was concentrating on cooking so Sookie felt nothing else from him in response to her question. If Heimdall had a common name, Sookie could have passed it off that Terry was thinking of someone else.

Another week passed with one lunch visit from Claudine, and Holly pestering her about when she was going to take a turn working at Fangtasia so they could carpool. Sam hired a couple more waitresses part-time, anticipating that Arlene was not going to work up until the moment she gave birth at Merlotte's. Sam added that to his list of rules: No Religion, No Dancing, and No talk about labor pain, centimeters, or actually uttering the words 'I can see the head.', after Tommy suggested things that had gotten under his older brother's skin.

Sookie hadn't been giving Arlene much mind when she came through one afternoon because frankly, she was tired and not thinking. Arlene was not dressed for work, had Lisa and Coby in tow, and went right to the kitchen to start yelling at Terry. Since Arlene usually raised her voice, it wasn't till she blurted out the 'V' word that Sookie tuned in.

" … vampire in our house? With the kids there?"

"They already know him."

"I don't care if it was that skinny blond bitch they got lying for them on the T.V. all night."

"Mom, it was only Heimdall, and it's not his fault. I asked him questions, and he answered them. I didn't make up anything. My teacher's wrong."

"That's what you get for talking to vampires. An F."

"Wait," Terry said. "I was there, and Lisa did talk to him about her school project while he was there."

"What was he doing at our house in the first place, Terry?"

"Uh … well, that insurance they got is better, and when I asked, and mentioned the kids, they said they could find some work for me so I didn't have to drive to Shreveport, and Heimdall was bringing it to me."

"What kind of work do vampires need done by you? They don't eat, and you can't mop up all the blood up from Bon Temps."

"Mom! There wasn't any blood. It was only putting address stickers on postcards for the Halloween party. Lisa and I helped."

Arlene seized on that, "Child labor. They can go to jail for that."

"Arlene, Heimdall did most of it for us, once he got the … never mind. He worked a lot faster than us, and answered Lisa's questions for her project."

"Well now she failed it, and a letter got sent home about Lisa being a liar. Thanks to you, and I don't want him or any other murdering bloodsucker in my house or talking to my kids."

"You've never met him," Lisa complained.

"If I do, I'm shoving a piece of wood in his chest."

Sookie snorted. Like Heimdall would stand still and let … maybe he would. She was pretty sure he wasn't convinced that he had something to live for. Being Eric's errand boy, and sticking things on Fangtasia postcards would bring Sookie no pleasure.

"He protected Lisa and me when you were acting all crazy and running 'round with them naked people."

"I never ran around with any naked people. That teacher's obviously onto something."

Knowing the truth, Sookie chose not to act. She'd not be able to convince anyone about Maryann since they didn't remember. Even Jane Bodehouse, who was missing a finger, acted like nothing had happened. She felt bad for Lisa, because she was telling the truth, but it wasn't going to change Arlene's mind about vampires. She was right. Not all, but a good deal of them, were murdering, lying fiends.

Terry interrupted, "I was there when Lisa asked him about vampires. I can tell her teacher that."

"I don't need the two of you being liars. I mean look at this – vampires brush their teeth, vampires can wake before sunset when they're older, vampires have a better sense of smell than dogs. It's a load of sh … crap."

"Heimdall did say all that," Terry replied.

"You're a couple of retards for believing him."

"Look, I don't want Lisa to get a bad grade because her teacher didn't like the subject she chose to interview for her project. Maybe I can get in contact with him, and he can tell Lisa's teacher that that is what he said."

"Oh my God! You want to expose hard-working teachers to vampires now?"

"Heimdall doesn't hurt anyone," Sookie protested, unable to take it any more. Heimdall was not a liar, and neither was Lisa or Terry. "If you don't believe me, ask Sam or Lafayette."

"Butt out, this ain't your family," Arlene retorted. "You threw the best person in your life away to get fucked by a vampire."

"You were going to marry a murderer," Sookie snarled back.

"I didn't know Rene was lying to me. You knew that dead man was a vampire."

Terry turned and went to take out the garbage or something. It was getting too loud for him.

"Arlene, I know you ain't here to drink, so what the hell are you doing?" Sam asked, coming round the corner, then added, "Sorry, didn't know you were here with the kids."

Sookie's finger shot out, and she accused, "Arlene's saying that Heimdall, Lisa and Terry are liars."

Since it was the middle of the afternoon, Sam failed to see how a vampire could be causing trouble in his bar. Wait, he'd believe it of Bill Compton, but Heimdall didn't seem to be in the same class of prickishness as Vampire Bill. However, now that Lisa, a child, was involved, Sam waited for an explanation, even though he hated playing the cop in these dramas among his staff.

He did know that Arlene's kids had stayed at Bill's house when Maryann was in town, and Heimdall rested in their room during the day for extra protection. Then Sookie took off, lying about where she was going, and ended back with Maryann at her house. With Heimdall and Eric wanting to know why she did it, Sam was at a loss for an explanation except when Sookie got something in her head, she went and did it. Come to think of it, that's how she turned her life into one hell of a mess, deciding to go out to the parking lot to beat the Rattrays off Bill.

Coby said, "Heimdall had a box of postcards for the Fangtasia Halloween party, and sheets of labels with people's addresses on them. Terry was going to put the labels on the postcards, and Heimdall said he could stay and help so he didn't have to come back for them in a couple days, because Terry said he didn't know when mom would be working. I'd finished my homework so I said I could help, and Lisa just had a project to interview someone to make 'em sound interesting. A vampire's gotta be more interesting than a regular person so she asked Heimdall if she could ask him questions for her school project."

"He said 'yeah'," Lisa added, "but he couldn't concentrate on the labels and talking at the same time so we did my homework first, then he helped Coby and Terry, while I wrote the whole thing over in my good handwriting."

"And 'cause he's not people, Lisa failed. End of story," Arlene announced.

"It isn't fair," Lisa complained. "And my teacher wrote mom a letter telling her that I made up the whole thing to avoid doing any work."

"I agree it's not fair," Sam replied, thinking. Then he said, "If your teacher wants to meet Heimdall somewhere, I can call and see if I can get him to come here to Merlotte's one night." His finger already went out in Sookie's direction and he continued, "Since he is allowed in _my _bar."

"Why torture the poor woman?" Arlene asked.

"Because she's mistaken," Sam explained. "I'm sure it can be straightened out, and Lisa's teacher simply didn't realize that it was possible for one of her students to have met a vampire who would answer her questions."

"No, they're unnatural," Arlene argued.

"Supernatural," Sam corrected.

"You're gonna burn in hell, Sam Merlotte."

"If you didn't want me prying, you could'a had this argument at home, Arlene. What's your teacher's name, Lisa? I'm doubting your mother will pass along Heimdall's reply."

"Miss Brook."

"You're gonna have her blood on your hands, Sam," Arlene predicted.

"Give it a rest, Arlene," Sookie growled. She didn't know the first thing about Heimdall, but lumped him in with people like Russell Edgington.

Sam shook his head in disgust. Why couldn't he have normal people that minded their own business working for him? If he were a superstitious man, he would think himself cursed. Real parents, foster parents, lovers, all left him or betrayed him. A brother who stole from him. Friends? Sam wasn't sure. Only a few months ago, he thought he had some here in Bon Temps.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Sookie spent an afternoon gnashing her teeth following a phone call from Bruce. Sweaty, nervous Bruce who was Eric's accountant for Fangtasia. He was right she hadn't clocked her card to work at Fangtasia, and she bluntly told him it was because she hadn't been there yet.

Sookie had received all the information and an identification card for her insurance, but it wasn't as if she used it for anything yet.

She felt bad for Bruce because he had to deliver the message that the only way deductions for medical insurance could be made from her paycheck were if she worked. Sookie wasn't stupid. She knew that was how it was supposed to work. It's just that she didn't expect a whole month to go by without her making up her mind what night she didn't want to work at Merlotte's and take off to work at Fangtasia.

Sookie definitely didn't want to go with Holly. Perhaps she'd go with Jessica, but then both of them would be off at the same time from Merlotte's and that might make it rough for Sam. All in all, Sookie had an excuse for every night she didn't go, however poor-sounding they were.

If that wasn't enough, Heimdall was at Merlotte's that night. She missed him come in and sit down at the bar, but heard Tommy snickering something about 'faggot vampire', as he passed her, carrying a gray tub of dirty dishes.

He was sitting on a stool nearest the pool table, looking down at the screen of his book thing that he had resting on the top of the bar. Rather than his standard hoodie or cotton T, Heimdall was wearing a maroon dress shirt.

"Heimdall?"

"Good evening, Miss Stackhouse," he replied, flicking his eyes up to her then back to whatever he was reading.

Now that Sookie could see around to the side of the bar he was on, she gasped and asked, "What are you wearing?" He had on a pair of laced, above the calf, platform boots and a black canvas, pleated skirt. She could see his bare knees.

"Pam instructed me to wear these clothes."

"That's a skirt."

"No, it is a kilt. I was with Pam when it was purchased in London."

"I don't care where it came from. In Louisiana, that's a skirt. Oh my … are you wearing underwear?" Sookie questioned, knowing she had not seen Heimdall habitually wear any.

Heimdall flipped the hem up, and there was something dark and form fitting to his thigh, "Yes, this is the kind I wear to work when I'm not wearing trousers for the night."

"Why did Pam tell you to wear this shit?" The belt was the only thing that looked normal, with the big belt buckle, but it did not go with the rest of his clothes.

"I trust Pam," Heimdall replied.

"She had you dress that way so people can make fun of you. You know how Pam thinks weird things are funny."

Heimdall nodded, and looked down at his Kindle. Perhaps agreeing with Sookie would get her to stop her critique of his appearance.

Sam called, "Leave him alone, Sook. He's going to sit in Holly's section."

"Sit? Sit for what?"

"I am meeting with a teacher that does not understand the answers I gave young Lisa," Heimdall said.

"She ain't gonna believe ya dressed like that."

Sighing, Heimdall feigned he was engrossed with today's copy of the Wall Street Journal. He still could not understand how someone could make money without working, but this publication also contained other interesting articles that he could comprehend.

Sookie pulled his arm. Since he was on a bar stool, with the bottoms of the boots resting on the lowest rung, Heimdall had no leverage to stop himself from tipping over when Sookie pulled with all her might, thinking he was going to resist with vampire strength.

He still had speed though, and got a foot on the floor to prevent himself from hitting it with the stool that he vacated. There was no grace to his movement because his balance on the rocking horse platforms was tricky. Heimdall could handle walking, and had made the trip here from Shreveport wearing the sandals that were now in his messenger bag, which ended up on the floor since it was hanging on the back of the bar stool's seat.

"God damn it!" Sam swore, feeling like he was saying that more and more around here. If it wasn't Tommy, it was another inmate of the asylum. Terry may be the sanest employee he had. On second thought, it was probably Jessica who was staring at Sookie and Heimdall, while holding some menus to her chest.

Heimdall righted the seat and rehung his bag, thankful that the Kindle was not inside, but still on the surface of the bar. His phone was in the bag, but he would not be inconvenienced if that stopped working. Eric would be.

"I want to talk to you," Sookie insisted.

"You've already talked to me this evening."

"No, I mean without people around."

"Regarding?"

"Stuff."

Slowly, Heimdall repeated, "Stuff," in an attempt to gain more meaning from that one-word, vague answer.

"C'mon," Sookie said, pulling on his arm again.

Heimdall followed Sookie into the back hall, outside the bathrooms and Sam's office.

Sookie stopped and started with, "Those boots are stupid."

He stood still and did not reply.

She huffed, knowing that he did this not-answering thing a lot, and asked, "Why haven't you called me?"

"I do not like talking on the telephone, and you frequently use it to start arguments with me."

"You haven't come by either."

"I was unaware you needed my assistance with something. What service can I perform for you?"

"I don't want no service."

"Did you reply with a double negative intentionally?"

"What?"

"Do _not _want _no_."

"What?"

Heimdall quieted again and went still. He did not understand her at all. Even feeling that Sookie was frustrated gave him no clue regarding her intentions. Why couldn't she state something plainly?

"Don't you want to do things with me?"

"I believe it best not to. Our activities to date have not had favorable outcomes."

"It doesn't always gotta be like that," Sookie responded.

Heimdall nodded, but said nothing.

Sookie looked at his clothes more. She couldn't believe Eric let Pam dress him like this. The top buttons of his shirt were undone to reveal a black undershirt beneath the dark maroon. Gran would have liked the stiff lines down the pressed sleeves, but would have held her tongue regarding the tattoos visible on his hands and that black nail polish. The black leather belt had a centered, silver-colored belt buckle of circling loops, and his shirts were tucked in so it was obvious Heimdall was wearing a skirt or kilt that showed off his equally odd boots.

Lafayette came in from the back door, from either taking out garbage or having a smoke, and smoothly said, "Look at you, boyfriend. Got a date tonight?" Heimdall knew he had been smoking.

"I am meeting Lisa's teacher because there was some question regarding the answers I gave her for a school project, and Mr. Merlotte suggested this would be a convenient place, besides offering her free food."

Lafayette leaned closer and asked, "No make-up tonight?"

"Only at work."

"What kind of make-up?" Sookie demanded, not liking that Eric and Pam were trying to make Heimdall do all this.

"Just some guy-liner," Lafayette replied off-handedly. "Gives me an excuse to stare into those baby blues while putting it on."

"But aren't you seeing-?"

"Yes, but when's I work with such a sweet boy as this, I can't act like he ain't there. I's only lookin'."

Sookie made a face. She didn't approve of 'just looking' when someone was already in a relationship. Bill hadn't … she hadn't … damn. Well, she was no saint, and Bill certainly wasn't.

"I thought ya didn't like the smell of this place?" Lafayette asked.

"When Mr. Merlotte called and said that Lisa was accused of fabricating her discussion with me, I did feel bound to make an attempt to correct the matter. He offered this as a meeting place because it is a public place that is conveniently located for this woman to meet me. The local library closes before sundown."

"Why didn't you let me know you'd be coming?" Sookie asked.

Heimdall did not answer immediately, but then murmured, "You seem able to insult me without forewarning and preparation, Miss Stackhouse."

"I wasn't insulting you, I was insulting Pam."

"You were speaking to me, not Pam."

Lafayette warned, "I'm not getting involved with that shit. Just leave the boy alone, Sook. He doesn't need the hate you got for vampires."

"I don't hate vampires."

"Don't go tellin' him to give Pam messages about whatever's got ya worked up now. Eric neither. Just keep it to yourself, rather than dumpin' it on Heimdall's head."

"Leave him alone, Lafayette."

"I ain't leavin' him back here with you."

"May I resume my seat at the bar to wait for Lisa's teacher?" Heimdall inquired.

"Yeah," Lafayette answered. "I'll go light on sauteed onions and garlic tonight for you."

"Thank you."

Sam nodded at Heimdall when he came out of the back hall. He was on his way back to the bar with an empty pitcher from one of Sookie's tables. He didn't want to act like Sookie was the problem, but he owed Heimdall for taking out Maryann. As far as Sam could see, Heimdall didn't start trouble, it found him. Though he agreed with Sookie that dressing that way kind of invited it.

Heimdall did not resume his seat, but stopped to stare at his Kindle. The screen's surface was wet, the bottom fourth now had a black background and light lettering, instead of the light gray with black lettering, there were horizontal lines that cut through the text that were blank, and there was a jagged spot of brightness on the right side with nothing visible in it.

He looked around for someone who could help before remembering what Isabel always told him. Turn it off, then turn it back on. Nothing happened when he turned it back on. He'd have to wait till he saw Eric to get it fixed.

Looking around again to see if anyone appeared pleased with his situation, Heimdall surmised this is why Sookie lured him into the back hallway. He didn't think Sam did it, since he had left the bar to complete some work.

Seeing Heimdall looking lost, Jessica came over and asked, "Something wrong?"

"I think someone damaged my Kindle when Sookie asked for me to speak with her in the back."

"Sam left the bar … I don't think I saw Holly over here either, but I was seating some customers."

"It's all right. I'll ask Eric to fix it."

"It can be fixed?" Jessica inquired, knowing that Eric sometimes exhibited a foul temper.

"I don't know. It was wet, and I'm not supposed to let that happen. That's why there's another padded case that goes inside my regular bag, which is water resistant." With a nod to the door and two women coming in, Heimdall mentioned, "You have new customers."

Jessica turned, plastering a smile back on her face. She didn't like people picking on them simply because they were vampires, or that Heimdall dressed in a way that would really get under her daddy's skin, if he ever saw him.

"How y'all doin' this evening?" Jessica asked, picking up two menus. These two looked like they could be in Hoyt's mama's social circle. Older, well-fed and liked their polyester stretch pants with the elastic waistbands coupled with a long, large print shirt, and a well-teased and sprayed hair-do that could stand up to a twister.

"We're meeting someone ..." The lady's voice dropped as she hissed, " … a vampire."

"Me?" Jessica asked teasingly. One of these women was the idiot that didn't believe vampires could brush their teeth. Jessica even used a smidge of toothpaste, now that she wasn't living with Darth Compton. As long as it was minute, and she rinsed her mouth with water, she could avoid gagging.

"Is your name Heimdall?"

"No, I'm Jessica. He's already here," Jessica was about to point him out at the bar, but saw Heimdall was back to frowning at his broken Kindle. "Let me show you to a table, so you have a chance to look over the menu. Don't recall seeing either of you in here lately." She hadn't seen them at all, but she hadn't been here as long as others.

"Well, with all those murders and such ..." the other lady muttered.

"There's not a lot of places open at night like this 'round Bon Temps, but I hope the run of bad luck is over," Jessica answered. "Such nice people deserve better."

As she put the menus on the table, Jessica added, "Your waitress will be Holly. She'll be right over to get your drink orders."

Jessica's return to her station by the door included a detour to Heimdall at the bar. He still looked upset, staring at the screen in his hands.

"That's them," Jessica said. "Did you want me to answer their questions?"

"No, I'll do it. That's why I came," he replied absently. That noise his phone made sounded, and he took it out of his bag. "Yes, Eric? … No, I do not want to discuss it now."

Heimdall put both his phone and Kindle away in his bag and approached the table with the two women. Eric could still feel his emotions. It was irrational to get upset over his Kindle. It could be fixed or replaced.

Sookie had already seen these two, and they were both under the impression they were going to meet someone like Vampire Bill. An honest to goodness gentleman full of manners and charm. She didn't need to read minds to see that they were disappointed when Heimdall introduced himself and sat down. She could feel their feelings that they were duped since Lisa's teacher had received such an elegant hand-written invitation for this meeting. The rest of their thoughts gauging Heimdall were hurtful, and the further measure of their character as they reevaluated what they chose for dinner since they weren't paying for it. They were damned lucky Holly was their waitress.

With waiting tables, and catching negative thoughts from other customers about Heimdall, Sookie was pleasantly pleased when she had time to check on him and felt the frustration of the two women meeting with him. He did not make idle conversation, wanted only to repeat the answers to Lisa's questions, and hardly took a sip from his Tru Blood. Sookie also noticed his posture. One elbow resting on the table, his hand was not covering his mouth in thought, but holding his fingers against his nose to avoid smelling something.

She almost burst out in laughter when Lisa's teacher thought _Cosmo_ was terribly mistaken regarding the appeal of all vampires. Idiots didn't realize they were sitting and conversing with the best vampire Sookie ever met. Maybe Pam's idea was to disguise him totally.

Heimdall did not want to be rude, but it was obvious these women had no interest in his repetition of the answers he gave to Lisa's questions, or his inquiry if her project would now receive a fair grade. They continued hinting with open innuendo, laughing at each other's jests, and now they wanted coffee and dessert after devouring multiple courses already. They proved to be another disappointment to his evening in Bon Temps. He wanted to go back to Shreveport after being unable to avoid Sookie's insults, and fearing his Kindle was truly broken. The witch who brought food and drinks to the table was looking at him expectantly. He had no intention of doing anything, since he had no interest in their blood, imagining it tasted as bad as their unnaturally scented perfume and other grooming products reeked.

Barely able to wait for those cows to finish grazing and making rude noises, Holly was glad when Heimdall slid his chair back a foot when the second dessert fork was laid to rest. After giving him some discrete study during the meal, she was sure she had a clue to what ailed him as a human, and might continue to trouble him since it was not repaired when he became vampire.

Holly wished to have words with him here, since Fangtasia was loud, and she did not work directly with Heimdall. Besides, other vampires were around there, and they heard everything. Chow even had drinks already poured and waiting before she got to the bar with the order from the other side of the room. Holly had no reason to complain because the fast service got her excellent tips.

She scribbled a note to him on a check, '_I want to talk to you_', folded it in half and held it out to him. Holly doubted one of these women would pick it up, if she put it on the table, but didn't want to chance it.

Heimdall took the bill from the waitress' hand. He thought Sam said there was no charge, yet he may have been misunderstood. He did not know why he was having trouble with comprehending English since he left Dallas. The people around here spoke English too, yet it seemed vampires spoke in a more straightforward manner. It was unusual since vampires were usually deceptive.

In his bag, Heimdall had money that Eric had given him, in case he wanted to make any purchases while carrying messages. He also knew that he owed this waitress money for serving. He took it out and tried to give it to Holly.

Holly had not expected Heimdall to not even look at her note, and pull out a hundred dollar bill along with a bunch of twenties. She had heard vamps were rich, but this bordered on careless. Then she remembered this vampire was impaired, and thanks to loose lips, more than the people that needed to know, knew.

"Put that away," she said, waving her hands negatively.

"Why?" Was this a massive joke that everyone but him was in on?

"I only wanted to let you know I wanted to speak to you. The meal's on Sam."

"I owe you for serving though?"

"That's too much."

"It doesn't matter. Take it."

"I'd be taking advantage of you."

Heimdall shrugged, then said quietly, "Assist me with these boots, then take it."

"Huh?"

"These are not comfortable enough to wear on my journey back to Shreveport."

"You walk?"

"Not at human speed."

"I can't take all of that as a tip," Holly repeated. Even if money meant nothing to him, she knew that you never got something for nothing. Not truly. "Did you want me to help you with those on the bench outside, or a chair in the back? It'll look strange if I'm kneeling down in front of you, 'specially wearing a kilt."

Heimdall suddenly smiled. The witch called what he was wearing a kilt, not a skirt.

"You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking about," Holly warned.

"What do you mean?" Heimdall asked, suddenly looking serious.

Holly stared into his eyes. Did he really have no clue? Even before setting foot in Fangtasia, Holly knew vampires had two things on their minds – blood and sex. Chow, Clancy, and Pam she overheard at Fangtasia, and they laid down the sex aspect thickly. Eric was distant, frowned from his throne, then went back to texting, above the slippery floor puddled with drool falling from the open mouths of the vermin staring at him. Yes, even outside of work, Holly started thinking of them as vermin. The term seemed apt.

"I mistook why you were smiling," Holly admitted.

"It was only because you called my kilt a kilt," he replied, walking towards the back of the bar. "I have grown unused to normal conversation, outside of vampires."

Merlotte's did attract a certain level of immaturity. She had not overheard any comments, but Holly did not have vampire hearing.

Heimdall actually kept going till he exited through the back door, next to the dumpster. He took a pair of sandals out of his bag, dropped them on the ground, and then lifted one leg, resting the heel against the outside wall. One set of laces were now in front of Holly's face.

"Did you wear these here?" Holly asked, untying and working to loosen the tight laces.

"No. Eric practiced with me so I could put them on, once he got them prepared for me. After I put my feet in, I start at the bottom and pull the laces through the holes, then when I get to the top, I wrap each lace around one two times, then tie them."

"One two?"

"One two," Heimdall repeated. "Isn't that counting?"

"Earlier I noticed you got a problem in your head. Brain tumor, cancer ..." Holly hinted.

Heimdall understood that those were problems humans had, and knew that he had suffered injuries to his head while human, yet there was only one response, "I am vampire."

"But it didn't get fixed when you got turned."

"I feel no pain or discomfort."

"Maybe something can be done about it."

"Vampires are not allowed medical examinations, tests or operations. Examining my teeth to guess my human age before I stopped aging needed approval."

"Who gave that approval?"

"Young vampires do not need to know. I would not be in favor of something being done inside my head."

Heimdall turned so she could pull off the uncomfortable boot, then he put his second foot up on the wall for her. Since the foot on the ground was now bare, it was a few inches lower, but not hard to work on.

Not content, Holly mentioned, "I know you have to do what they tell you. That's what I expect from my boys. I don't buy these kind of clothes for them. They got their own idea of what's stylish."

"I understand vampires are expected to stand out, or people think we're trying to trick them by looking the same."

Even though Holly knew what he was saying was true, it wasn't as simple as that. Regular people could not recognize vampires, unless the vampire did something unusual. That's how they remained hidden for so long. Vampires didn't need to reveal themselves to the world. With a smile, she replied, "You certainly did a good job of looking the part. Those women were so rude. Even if they didn't know how long you were a vampire, I wasn't happy with the way they talked to you. Physically, you're still the same as someone they shouldn't be talking to like that."

"I suppose it will change. Once I'm a vampire longer, it would be inappropriate for me to take that sort of interest in younger humans."

"That look your age?" Holly asked rhetorically. "I can see how that would create a disparity."

Heimdall nodded. It had been like that for a long time. Sometimes, he'd lie about who or what he was to attain the interest of someone, yet that was not right, basing a friendship on falsehood.

When his second boot was off, Heimdall still attempted to give Holly all the cash he had with him after he put his boots in his bag. Eric would give him more, and even though Heimdall was not sure how much this was, he was certain that Eric could easily afford it. Eric always had more than enough riches. In fact, the only moments of ungracefulness on Eric's part, such as tripping, that Heimdall could recall, always led to the discovery of something valuable.

"All I did was help you with your shoes."

"And the meal. Besides, you did not damage the boots. Pam would be upset if anything happened to them."

"Damage 'em? Why would I do that?"

"Someone here damaged my Kindle tonight while Miss Stackhouse distracted me."

Holly let her frown show. She knew people didn't like vampires, and with good reason, but Heimdall wasn't like other vampires, even with all the tattoos failing to camouflage the true person underneath. At Fangtasia, she didn't bother with the 'performers', but concentrated on her drink orders to make great tips, yet she knew Heimdall didn't leer, show fangs, or suggest anything rude to the customers, even though that was part of the act, or at least, that's what the other vampires made it seem like. They didn't bother Holly, so she knew they had some restraint.

"My boys got no interest in those sort of things, unless it plays games. Is it broken?"

"Yes."

"Shouldn't you keep some of this to get another one?" Holly asked, indicating the money in his hand.

"I … Eric needs to do it. I don't know how it's bought, or linked to my account to retrieve my books."

Eric. Holly knew this was the last person needing to hear that someone at Merlotte's was giving a vampire a hard time. She suggested, "Maybe it was an accident."

"No one apologized, yet I cannot tell if Miss Stackhouse was involved, or just her normal self. There was no need for me to go with her to the back since she had already checked to make sure I was wearing an undergarment while I was seated in the public area."

"An undergarment?" she repeated, because even though it was a term she understood the definition of, it was not one she normally used.

Heimdall flipped his kilt up, shocking Holly. He was wearing black boxer briefs that covered everything, but it was the idea that her co-worker thought she had any business looking. Physically, he wasn't much older than her oldest, and Holly didn't think anyone had any business checking to make sure they had on underwear, except her making sure they got washed and they didn't wear any with gaping holes where they shouldn't be. Mentally, Heimdall didn't seem like he could handle everyday things without help, despite having a good vocabulary.

"Eric said I may spend whatever money he gives me as I like. Take it, because I am tired, and wish to return to Shreveport."

Another surprise, and Holly tried to clarify, "You're tired?" Vampires did not get tired. When the sun rose, they closed their eyes till the sun set. It was not sleeping.

"Yes," Heimdall replied, taking Holly's hand and putting the money into it. "I want to leave now."

There were nights at Merlotte's that Holly felt that way too. Not happy with how their conversation was going, since Heimdall had no interest in discussing what she thought was a real medical problem, which may be the reason why someone would turn him so young, and simply that his visit here sucked. She couldn't blame it on being at that age where boys moped over everything because Holly wouldn't have wanted to sit around listening to those two heifers making lewd remarks to someone only because he was vampire. If Heimdall was human, their suggestions would have been intolerable, be considered harassment, and if they acted on any of their crass hints, statutory rape. A teacher with her buddy, a school principal, sitting by her side, cackling along and condoning it. Holly had a few things in mind for those two.

"You'll be okay?" she asked.

Heimdall chin tilted a little, then he said, "I move very fast. I will be home soon after leaving here."

"Right," Holly agreed, then said, "but tonight didn't go so good. You're not upset?"

With a bit of a shrug, Heimdall pointed out, "Isn't that the problem with everyone allowed free will? They do as they like to pursue their own happiness. The things that they enjoy, I do not, yet that means I am allowed to choose also."

"But what they like is wrong, at times."

"Not necessarily. Due to my condition, I am somewhat of an outcast, so it is permissible to treat me as an inferior. I do not understand much, but I can comprehend that."

Holly scoffed, "No, you ain't. You're stronger, you've already said you're faster … we're the food."

"Shhh, that's something we're not allowed to say now," Heimdall teased.

Holly laughed.

"What? You don't believe we can pretend to be somewhat inferior? I don't need to be able to count or read to kill everything in there. I hear very well, and can find every heartbeat and stop it. However, I know that would be a horrible thing to do. You also can do things that are unexpected, I believe, but you don't because you also know the difference between right and wrong. Isn't there a saying that with power also comes responsibility?"

"You read too much. And I hope your thing's not broken, and no one did it on purpose."

He gave a slight grin and quietly said, "Good night."

Holly didn't even see a blur. Heimdall was gone like a magic trick.

Back to work, and Holly felt a little guilty. She didn't think Heimdall could read minds, but that thing about right and wrong. Did he know that she was planning on teaching a few people a lesson? Was it from being around vampires? Did everyone that had a little something extra think they knew what was best for everyone else? Someone had to teach someone some manners around here. Their parents certainly didn't do a decent job.

"Where'd you go?" Sam asked as she went by the bar. "Holly, I'm talking to you."

"Oh, um, let me check on my tables, and then I'll talk to you."

"Oh, your tables? Sookie was run ragged. You're supposed to say when you go on break."

"Hold your horses," Holly replied over her shoulder. She wasn't too worried about Sookie being run ragged if she had time to check out a young man's choice of underwear when she knew that his comprehension regarding everyday civility was skewed. She hadn't been gone long, and Sookie didn't do much of a job tending her tables anyway because every one of them needed something. Good thing it was later, and it was mostly pitchers and bottles for the people that stayed all night parked in their chairs nursing a beer for an hour at a time between trips to the men's room.

When she brought her empty pitchers and orders over to Sam, she said, "I'll skip my break, if you want me to. I was gone longer than I expected 'cause I got to talking to Heimdall while I helped him get those boots of his off. Someone damaged that kindle thing of his in here tonight when he left it on the bar. I know he shouldn't have left his things like that, but I don't think he gives much thought to that."

"How damaged?"

"He didn't know. I asked him how much one was because he was giving me an outrageous tip, and I was trying to tell him that he should keep some of his money in case he needed a new one. I don't know if you can call Eric faster than he can get back to Shreveport, but I'll give you some of that money towards buying a new one, if it's really broken. Heimdall doesn't know where they come from, how much they cost, or how Eric gets his account linked to it. My kids have no interest in things that don't involve fighting something."

Sam made a face. Calling Eric might be the right thing to do, but he'd rather have gotten a chance to look at it before Heimdall left. Sam didn't know how one of those things worked, but he bet he'd have a better chance of getting it to work than Heimdall.

"And those women that teach children, they were so disgusting with the way they talked to him, like he was some piece of meat. I don't know if Lisa's going to get a better grade, because Heimdall wasn't playing their game, which I don't blame him for at all. If he's deemed by the state to be young enough to have to take remedial classes, if he did any of that stuff they were talking about, he'd be less than eighteen for that too."

"Really?" Sam asked, thinking of the two specimens he saw over there, sitting with Heimdall. He got a couple leers a night from Jane Bodehouse, and come to think of it, other women of that age, but what kind of appeal would Heimdall have? He did look boyish, even though Sookie told Sam that he was an older vampire, and he didn't do that dark, sexy brood that Compton did, or that dangerous thing that those asshole friends of Compton's friends did, and Sam had to admit, Eric's appeal even got noticed by the straightest of men. The tattoos? The hair? The clothes? He looked like any other self-absorbed little, pampered shit to Sam, till he spoke.

"At least you got the right attitude about that, Sam. Some fellows think of those teachers that get involved with their male students, and think it's fine, but how's a boy supposed to respond to that sort of predator? The teacher's the adult there. It's more than a job being a teacher, it takes commitment, and not standing at a blackboard, checking out students as sexual beings."

Sam nodded, sensing Holly felt firmly about this as she rambled on, while he filled another pitcher. By that age, Sam was on his own, without school, and he knew the only woman that took an interest in him like that as a young man, later tracked him down to cut out his heart. He definitely understood the predator angle, but Holly's protectiveness of Heimdall was unnecessary. He was probably laughing to himself all the way home over those hags, or maybe not, if he wasted his time. Sam knew he came to help Lisa. Sam invited him here to help Lisa. If people like Arlene could give vampires a bit of slack, then maybe the rumblings about shifters and weres following after vampires and going public might not go so badly. Sam knew the big difference was he never drank anyone's blood, but if people couldn't face the basic fact that vampires never had to say shit, what concession was he entitled to? No one stuck around once they found out, except Sookie, who acted like he betrayed her by not telling her at any point before she became a target for a serial killer.

He had been hoping Holly would take some of her orders back to tables rather than running on at the mouth, when she got to something different. Still Heimdall, which Sam still didn't understand created such a whirlpool of interest.

"... and at Fangtasia, all the vampires can hear anything, so I wanted to let him know that I thought that maybe his parents purposely got him turned into a vampire because he may have been dying. It also explains why he has trouble with school type stuff, since it wouldn't be his fault, or that he's dumb, but he's got a big black spot in his head, like a tumor or cancer, and if that was my boy, and he was dying, and it was something they couldn't operate on, I might think that being a vampire's a way to keep him alive."

"What big, black spot? He has black hair."

"Inside. There's something odd about his tattoos too. You know how vampires heal from everything? He's not."

Sam stared at Holly for a moment, then said, "You shouldn't talk about that sort of thing. I know you like helping, but vampires don't interpret kind gestures the same way we do."

"Wouldn't you want to know that though? If you had no memories of your parents, and were such a mess, that they might have loved you enough to have that done to you? I know with him, it sort of went wrong, but how many vampires have that kind of damage before they're made that they could even guess that?"

"Leave him alone, Holly," Sam warned. "I know he doesn't seem all vampire-scary, but Eric is. You're only making guesses, and I got a feeling you're not even close to knowing what he's gone through. Get these drinks delivered."

"Okay, but I'm just saying ..."

"Stop saying, and get working."

A while later, Jessica was looking bored, so Sam signaled her to come over.

"Did you see anyone near Heimdall's stuff earlier?"

"No, he already asked. I was showing customers to a booth, and you were taking care of getting beer to one of Sookie's tables, when someone broke his Kindle."

Sam wouldn't say his memory was bad, but he didn't remember specifically serving any beer to a table tonight.

"When was that?"

"Sookie knocked Heimdall off the stool to get him to go in the back with her."

He remembered that part so asked, "Do you think it got broken then?"

"Maybe, but it was on the bar. It was his bag that hit the floor."

"His bag was fine, but only the reading thing?" Sam asked. If someone wanted to be an asshole, they could've lifted the bag.

"I guess. Though if someone threw his phone in the toilet, Heimdall might not notice. Eric's always giving it to him."

Seeing Jessica's smile, Sam asked, "What?"

With a mischievous look, she explained, "Eric sounds like a parent. _I pay for a phone that starts ringing next to me whenever I call you._"

Her impression of Eric was uncannily similar to his voice. Sam knew vampires could imitate the voice of others, but he hadn't seen one do it.

Later, when asked, Tommy broke out in a grin and said, "Yeah, you see his face when he saw it busted there. Priceless. What a homo. I thought I'd finally get to see some red vampire tears."

"You broke it?"

"Sure, he left it there after Sookie knocked him on his ass."

"Why? He was here because I asked him," Sam explained, trying to get a handle on his temper.

"It was fun, and what's he need that for anyway? He was only showing off."

"Reading's not showing off. He was being quiet. I like quiet people in here, rather than vampires sauntering in, calling us a bunch of blood bags and demanding things 'cause there's a law I got to serve their ass."

"Who came in here calling us blood bags?" Tommy asked, ready to kick someone's ass.

"Never mind. Did you really break it, or do you think it can be fixed?"

"I don't know. I banged it against the bar and dumped some water on it. That's what he gets for walking in here looking like queer bait. He's lucky only Sookie beat him up."

"She didn't beat him up. Sookie knocked over his stool, and he didn't fall on the floor. This is the second time you've been in the same room as him, and you've done something stupid. What is your problem?"

"I don't got no problem. It's him. His kind shouldn't come in here. It's not like he buys anything."

The "God damn it, Tommy," slipped out of Sam's mouth, before he could stop himself.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Sookie was annoyed, and stayed annoyed, because Heimdall didn't even say good-bye to her when he left. He was a terrible boyfriend, or whatever he thought he was. They still had not clarified it to Sookie's satisfaction.

She got more than annoyed, more like incensed, when she found a paycheck from Fangtasia in her mailbox. Sookie had not worked a Friday night from a little after seven to two in the morning to pay two months of medical insurance. Damned high-handed vampire doing something without even talking to her.

Sookie called Bruce, and he said he had a punched time card. Bruce asked her to hold while he looked at the other ones, in case one of her friends from Merlotte's punched hers too, but he said Lafayette started about fifteen minutes later and stayed past two. That was the only other person from Bon Temps that worked that night.

When Lafayette came into Merlotte's later, since Sookie couldn't call Eric till it was dark, Sookie asked him. He said he didn't clock her in by mistake. He got his pay for that night. Sookie tried to explain that she didn't mean by mistake, but clocked both their cards, and Lafayette got a crazy look in his eyes and replied he would not try to cheat Eric. When Sookie pressed that she didn't mean cheat, Lafayette waved his hand and said he didn't want to get involved with her problems, he had enough of his own, and shooed her out of the kitchen.

During her break, Sookie went out back and called Eric.

"Speak," was his salutation.

"Why'd you pay me when I didn't work?"

"What has you irate now?" Eric asked, not understanding.

"You paid me for working at Fangtasia, when I didn't. I already called Bruce, and he claimed he had a time card. I asked Lafayette if he punched my card by mistake, but he said he didn't."

"I don't recall you being here," Eric answered. He must have turned his head because he asked in a distant voice, "Did you clock Sookie into work one night?"

"Yes, but left my card alone so she got my hours."

Eric's voice became clear again, and he said, "It was Heimdall."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Eric responded. "You want insurance, but can't be bothered to work. Heimdall doesn't do anything with the money I pay him, except when I take it back to replace the Kindle that your merry little band of miscreants broke on him."

"When?"

"When he was last in your latrine of a town to answer questions from two lecherous old women, and your witch was telling him something was wrong with his head."

"No one touched his Kindle. It must have been something he did."

"Sookie, why are you bothering me with this? If you can't get Heimdall on the phone to berate, you call me to berate him?"

"He's covering up that he broke it himself."

"Either way, he paid to replace it, so I don't see the purpose of making up excuses. Good night."

Sookie huffed at Eric hanging up on her, and called back. They hadn't resolved her getting paid for not working. She didn't take charity, and certainly didn't want vampires pitying her. Stupid ass did not answer his phone and let it go to voice mail.

"Real mature hanging up on me. I'm not cashing this check because I didn't do that work. And by the way, I quit."

There, both of them could act like thousand-year old Viking jerks.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Jessica enjoyed herself at Fangtasia for Halloween. She didn't get a vote, and neither did Heimdall, but after the obscure ideas that were suggested, being a pirate queen wasn't too bad. Pam's costume was more Pam, and it was a wonder she could move around with so much skirt to the sides and back. It was like she was her own ship. However, Jessica liked her own. She thought she looked formidable and dangerous. Hoyt said she looked sexy, and they had plenty of ideas of what to do with it at home because Jessica got to keep it.

The club was packed to capacity, and there was a long line outside that Pam could do nothing with until some humans left. Fire code limited how many people could be in the main room, and if they were caught exceeding it, Fangtasia could be shut down for the night, or longer.

Heimdall and Jessica were given the plebeian jobs of listening near the rest rooms and walking down the line of waiting patrons outside.

His costume was that of a unsavory deckhand with a gold hoop earring, eye patch, scarf covering his hair, an alligator stuffed animal on his shoulder, dirty, striped shirt, and ripped, short canvas pants while going barefoot. Heimdall was made up with a layer of greasy stubble, and someone drew some mean-looking eyebrows on his face too.

Jessica found his pirate voice to be smooth and sexy, even though he limited his answers to 'aye', 'nay', and stretched-out, deepened 'argh's and 'arrr's.

It was not surprising to her that Eric looked more like a Viking raider than a pirate. The other regular vampire employees, such as Chow and Clancy, were more like pirate captains, rather than simple crew members, like Heimdall and the others that Eric called in to work for the night, from his area. Being sheriff had its perks.

Hoyt had a good time. Jessica had a good time. Eric and Pam made a lot of money.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Hadley was also having a good time all the time, and called Sookie about once a month to let her know it.

If it wasn't for the lesbian vampire sex, Sookie might be tempted to try it out. Hadley's calls were sort of like a list of all the presents she got.

Sookie also ran out of the garlic pills Holly gave her and decided not to buy another bottle. It seemed like an unnecessary expense. Bill could have been wrong, or just lying like he did about everything else. Vampires who knew about her blood were not leering and salivating over her, ready to drain her dry.

When another Fangtasia envelope showed up in her mailbox two weeks after the first, Sookie could not believe it. She got another check for working another night, and another month of medical insurance was paid.

She called Eric as the sun set, and he did answer his cell phone.

"Yes, Sookie?"

"I told you I quit, and then you sent me another check for working."

"I don't handle mundane matters such as those."

"Don't give me that. Did Heimdall give me his time again?"

"He may have, which is a disservice since he gets a higher hourly rate than you."

"Why's he using my card? I know he's not stupid."

"I believe he wants you to have health insurance, and since you are his, he feels he needs to get it for you, since you are unable to do it yourself and also expressed an interest in having it."

"I don't care about your vampire traditions."

"Sookie, you first called me to tell me you did not have medical coverage. The situation is remedied, and yet you still complain. There is no pleasing you."

"I can make my own way, thank you very much. I don't accept charity, and I refuse to be in Heimdall's debt."

"Then why did you suggest he loan you money for your bills?"

"I did not," Sookie denied.

"Very well. Is this all you wished to discuss with me?"

"Are you going to fix it?"

"Fix what? I am not comprehending anything as broken."

"You are such a prick."

"Since we've reached the insult stage of this call, may I go now?"

Sookie growled in frustration and hung up on Eric this time.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Jesus found some other witches in Shreveport. He wasn't too keen on working with a coven, established, or as newly formed as this one. Their leader claimed her name was Hallow, and she was an aggressive bitch, yet greedy. He knew it was an assumed name, since what parent would name their daughter Hallow?

To be certain of who he was dealing with, and to also have an ace in the hole, Jesus had followed her. She lived in a small house with a psychic business. Readings for $5. Her psychic name was Marnie, and after some further digging, Jesus found the homeowner's name was male. Renter? Widow? If she wasn't powerful and as knowledgeable as she was, he'd ditch her. On his own, Jesus could not cast any spell that would effect a thousand-year old vampire greatly.

She was interested in making money the quick and easy way, and Jesus knew doing $5 readings wasn't enough to keep her in scarves, tarot cards and crystal balls. Everyone could agree to one thing, vampires were way too wealthy. Even the Republicans were rethinking their top-tier income tax strategies since protecting that small percentage of the population also meant protecting vampires. Couldn't tax a vampire for simply being a vampire, even if the VRA never got ratified, but going after the big earners while expanding deductions for dependents, was gaining favorable reception.

Lafayette was not pleased that Jesus had not given up on his vague plan for Eric. Lafayette still didn't like that motherfucker, but he wasn't doing more to him than making rare comments at work. Fucking job paid better than the road crew and Merlotte's together.

He didn't know any of the details, since he doubted there was anything Jesus could do that would even get Eric to take notice of him, much less hurt him. He already warned him against silver. He'd never forget that, down in the basement of Fangtasia. Rumor was vampires were rendered helpless when silver touched their skin. Even if Eric's backhand was a muscle twitch, he was still strong enough to kill normal people.

Lafayette didn't want anything to happen to Jesus. This was the man he could picture spending the rest of his life with, as long as they avoided those weird ass V trips together. He sort of dreamt the two of them saving up their money, now that Lafayette was bringing in more than enough to pay for Ruby Jean's care, and one day, when they had enough saved, moving somewhere nice, like Miami, or one of them little island countries that had no vampires, plenty of sun, and lots of tourists so they could get a place of their own with good food, music and dancing.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Sookie stopped calling Eric every two weeks regarding her Fangtasia paychecks. She guessed Heimdall kept using her time card once every pay period, and he didn't bother answering his phone till mid-November. If she didn't cash them, then she wouldn't be taking Eric's money for work she didn't do.

"Yes?" he answered. That was nicer than Eric's 'speak'.

"Heimdall, you answered."

"Yes, are you well?"

"Uh, yeah, a little tired, but fine."

"That is good to hear. What may I do for you?"

Sookie frowned at that question. That wasn't why she was calling him, and she was over the medical insurance thing, planning to only use it for an emergency. She answered, "Nothing."

"You have not had any threats or contact with that werewolf?"

"None."

"That is good. I have not found any trace around your home of her or others."

"Good, but that's not why I'm calling."

"Is there something else I can do for you, Miss Stackhouse?"

Knowing that they usually got into an argument if they talked on the phone too long, Sookie tried, "I was wondering what you were doing for Thanksgiving."

It was out of her mouth, and Heimdall's responding silence gave her time to think of all the ways that suggestion could be taken by a vampire.

He spoke first to break the lengthening silence. "I am not a fan of sports, if you are trying to ask if I would favor Dallas or New Orleans for their game. I suppose now I should say I would like the Saints to win."

"What?"

"Lafayette would like me to support the Saints, and I see no reason why I should not accede to his wish."

"You talk a lot with Lafayette?"

"I predominantly listen while he talks."

Sookie wondered why Heimdall didn't get into arguments with Lafayette, but got back to her original idea, and asked, "So do you want to come over that night?"

"I regret I would not want to enter a human home on that day. That is a food holiday."

For a moment, Sookie was ready to claim she had no one to cook for. She had been trying not to think much about this being the first year without Gran, but Heimdall's objection got her thinking about a too-big turkey in the oven, all four stove burners on with pots cooking away on all of them, except the frying pan that Gran was pushing the hushpuppies around in. And Gran always made at least three pies because Sookie had to have pecan, Jason would choose pumpkin or apple, and Gran always wanted a sweet potato pie because she always wanted a slice on Thanksgiving.

"I have upset you?" Heimdall asked, feeling Sookie's sudden melancholy, even though he believed her to be at Merlotte's for the evening, miles away.

"It's not you. I was thinking of my grandmother and her cooking. You really cannot stand the smell of food?"

"Not all food bothers me," he replied. "I can visit you another day."

"What about Christmas?"

He felt a pang of disappointment. This conversation seemed pleasant, but when he declined her invitation, Sookie chose an alternate day a month later. Or was it? Calendars only made sense when he was looking at one, and Thanksgiving was not on the same date every year.

"Is church at night for that holy day?"

"Well, there's a midnight mass on Christmas Eve … but usually teens go to that because it's late."

"You do not?"

"No, but I guess I can, if you want."

Sensing her hesitation, Heimdall replied, "I suppose I should not go. That might appear unusual."

"Yeah, since I haven't been going to church regularly."

"Why?"

"I'm too tired to get up."

"You cannot go later?"

"Our minister travels to another church, so he only does ours at ten. I'd have to drive to Ruston to do noon."

"Why don't you?"

"I just said I'm tired."

"Or is it you don't care enough about your soul?"

Sookie responded, "I do care, but I need to get my rest. I don't go dead and then pop up like y'all do."

"Vampires may be denied salvation, yet you seem to not want it."

"I want it."

"Then why don't you treat it as something important? It should be a priority."

"I can't have this argument with you."

"I am not arguing."

"You're tellin' me what I should be doing, and that's gonna lead to an argument."

"I thought you were in agreement that you believed in and desired redemption."

"I am, but I don't want you tellin' me how to go about it."

"It's in the commandments. It is part of Christian faith."

"But it don't say I gotta go to church."

"I hate to contradict you, yet I believe it is stated in Leviticus. The translation would be roughly: 'you shall keep my sabbath, and reverence my sanctuary.' I would agree with the interpretation to go to a place of worship once every seven days."

"Is that why Steve Newlin wanted to burn you up? You're quotin' scriptures because you read 'em, but you don't got any understanding of them."

Sookie waited for Heimdall's reply to that, then bit her lip in thought. She shouldn't have said that. He was right, and it was something Gran raised both Jason and her to do. They had gone to church every week, even after Sookie got her job at Merlotte's, she still went with Gran.

After a moment stretching uncomfortably while Sookie regretted what she said, Heimdall responded, "Explain it to me."

"That commandment means one day's for resting, just like God did after he created the earth."

"Yet you work seven days a week?"

"I got to."

"That is stubbornness, not necessity."

"And this is where our argument would start. You don't know what I need to do, and you can't understand it."

"I agree. I do not understand why you do what you do."

"Don't be such a wise ass."

"Are you somehow referencing the Feast of the Three Kings?"

"What?"

"Is it also called Epiphany?"

"Why would I be talking about that?"

"I thought you were talking about holidays. What did you mean?"

"By what?"

"You said 'wise ass'."

"Never mind."

Heimdall did not respond, so Sookie said, "So do you have plans for Christmas night, or do you and Eric got something going on?"

"The night of December 25th?" he asked, knowing that date did not change from year to year but feeling the need to confirm it with communication being so confusing. "I do not know what Eric has in mind. I heard that Fangtasia is closed the 24th and 25th. I will pass along your message to him."

"Okay," Sookie agreed, without processing Heimdall's phrasing.

"You do not cook that day?"

"I'll keep it simple since it'll just be me, or maybe Jason too."

"Merlotte's is not open?"

"Not Christmas day."

"So you will be rested?"

"Yeah."

"It is dark earlier then. Good bye, and I'll let you know Eric's answer."

"Okay," Sookie said, then thought, then rethought what Heimdall said. He needed to check with Eric because she asked him if he had plans for Christmas. She had no idea what vampires did. She had heard they only celebrated Halloween.

It wasn't until a couple weeks after Thanksgiving that Eric called her, shortly after Merlotte's closed for the night.

"Hello?"

"Sookie, you've invited us to your house for Christmas evening?"

"Uh … yeah," she said, even though she hadn't invited him to tag along too. What would Eric do by himself, she figured.

"Pam does not want to admit that this occasion has her stumped. What is the significance of an evening visit on Christmas day, and what is traditionally expected?"

"Huh?"

"Heimdall said we were invited to your home for the specific holiday, so I asked Pam. I think she was covering herself by claiming Americans are not bound by tradition."

"Every family's got its own traditions. I'm not sure what Jason wants to do, but I figured we'd either do it Christmas Eve or sometime earlier in the day. We can do whatever you and Heimdall feel like."

"Really?" Eric teased.

"Eric," Sookie warned.

"I was only speculating about the possibilities."

"It ain't happening," she guaranteed.

"You keep telling me that. It must be on your mind quite a bit."

"It's you who tricked me into having these dreams."

Eric guessed, "You like them."

"No, I don't."

"A lot," Eric persisted.

"You're delusional."

"Hmm."

"Are you going to behave so badly I'm going to have to rescind your invitation?"

Eric laughed over the phone at Sookie's suggestion.

"I'll see you then, Eric."

Sookie's bravado faded as it got closer to the actual day. Jason had vague plans, but did stop by to eat multiple meals and help her get the tree into the house and set up. They were both feeling low without Gran.

Jason wasn't seeing anyone steady now, so did not have to make excuses to duck out of a family gathering when he got invited to a girl's house. It was awkward when Jason wasn't serious, and a woman's family starting asking questions about marriage, which Jason had no intention of doing, or even talked about with her publicly or privately. He still had his mind set on that Crystal, who disappeared with her cousin and Jason's truck at the end of the summer. Truck hadn't been found, so Sookie wasn't thinking Crystal would be either.

Sookie went over to Jason's house during the afternoon. His tree was on the small side. Maybe she should have done that too. It would be easier to take care of, easier to get rid of, not take up as much space, but the problem was they had a lot of ornaments. Even the ones that were store-bought were got so long ago that Jason and her remembered them as children, before they started adding their own ornaments that they made in school every year. Gran hung them year after year, no matter how bad they were, or how much glitter flaked off as the Elmer's glue disintegrated.

At home, she had already had a new four-pack of Tru Blood in the refrigerator from Wal-Mart. Vampires hadn't been in her house for months, though Sookie suspected Heimdall looked around her house for Debbie Pelt when he was in the area. Secretly, she wished he'd stop by and talk to her, but then that meant getting involved with vampire things. She didn't want any more to do with vampires, or at least typical, lying vampires. Heimdall was special. Sookie knew that. She just didn't know how to deal with him. How does someone relate to someone else who's almost a hundred times her age? She couldn't be expected to understand his problems, but didn't know how things turned into arguments when he didn't seem to start them.

Tonight, there'd be no fighting … as long as Eric behaved himself. Sookie was unsure about Eric. It was mixed up in her head, that he could not be trusted, but he sometimes told her the truth. There was also seeing him naked at least once a week in her dreams.

Sookie saw headlights through the window about an hour after dusk. She already had on Christmas music, and the tree lights were on. When no one knocked after a couple minutes, Sookie opened the front door after turning on the outside lights. It looked like Pam's SUV, turned off, lights off, and sitting parked in front of the porch. No one was in it.

Having smartened up, Sookie stayed within her house, rather than stepping over the threshold onto the porch. What if that wasn't Pam's car? Why would Eric and Heimdall even need Pam's car? Lots of people drove SUVs.

Heimdall appeared in front of her. He was not dressed for December in northern Louisiana. Still wearing those cargo shorts, sandals and a long-sleeved, loose T-shirt. Not even a jacket or one of those hoodies that Eric had him wear. Sookie didn't even see the blur to indicate where he came from.

His eyes glanced around, then he asked, "Is something here?"

"What?"

"Were you not growing fearful?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Did you park there?"

"Pam did. We were following a scent in your cemetery."

"Werewolf?" Sookie asked, stepping out to look around.

"No, the fairies have been using their gate. They usually very active on the other solstices, especially summer, to celebrate the longer hours of sunlight. They do not like winter, in general. Not that they feel cold as keenly as you, but they enjoy the sun. They also like clear nights of moonlight too, which we have not had in the past week."

"I thought everything was cool between you and the fairies."

"Mostly. I would be interested in knowing if they are behaving unusually, yet you should not involve yourself."

"I'm not."

"That is good. I know you are impulsive and stubborn, but without strength, speed or knowledge, you would be sorely disadvantaged."

Annoyed that Heimdall was listing what he considered her faults, Sookie pointed out, "I got that light that shoots out of my hands. I'm not helpless."

"Yours is not as strong as a full fairy's."

"Maybe not yet."

Heimdall's pained look was all Sookie received as an answer. Eric and Pam were at the back of her car, getting something out.

"Pam wanted to come?" Sookie asked.

"Yes," Heimdall answered. "It will be quieter here because Clancy and Chow were promising a night of ultimate smackdown against Jessica and her human."

"Ultimate smackdown?" Sookie repeated.

"They have been stating their intentions to play the television games for over a week with colorful, descriptive language of their skills. Tonight is rematches because Jessica and her human proved to be formidable last night."

"His name's Hoyt."

"I am aware of that."

"What are they carrying?" Sookie asked, looking at Eric and Pam.

"You do not accept gifts for Christmas either?"

Sookie made a face, and complained, "I never said I didn't like gifts."

"You like receiving them, yet you get angry? That seems to be contradictory behavior."

"'Cause you don't listen."

"Sookie," Pam greeted, coming up the stairs. Eric had also felt minor distress from the telepath while they were sniffing after fairies. As both of them expected, Sookie was unharmed and already in fine fettle as she spoke to Heimdall. Her grandsire was being accused of not listening now. It was as if Sookie couldn't tell one vampire from another. Many vampires preferred their humans to be seen and not heard. Sookie would be an ideal candidate for that, even now that every other word out of her mouth was no longer 'Beeill'.

Sookie stopped speaking, both to allow Pam to give her an air kiss, and because she realized her conversation with Heimdall had taken a wrong turn already.

Pam was normally dressed for this time of year in winter white slacks, jacket, heels and a large shoulder bag. Underneath her jacket, she was wearing a pale pink sweater. Sookie suspected it was expensive because it had those little white hairs sticking out. The long string of pink-tinted pearls was probably expensive too. There was a shopping bag also over her arm.

Eric handed Heimdall his messenger bag, before leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek. With Eric, there was contact, but it was brief. He was also carrying a couple bags. One had a large, red box visible with a gold ribbon around it.

Presents. Sookie hadn't thought about that for them. Vampires didn't celebrate Christmas, or that's what everybody on television said. She should have said something. She hadn't invited Heimdall over to get a gift. Sookie had the night off, and no other plans. Her next day off might not be until next Thanksgiving because Sam got some business on Easter night.

What would she have gotten for Heimdall? Or Eric? And then, she didn't even know Pam was coming. It would have been awkward if she had gotten something for the guys, and nothing for Pam.

Heimdall stood on the porch, waiting for Sookie to enter the house, after Pam and Eric. She was disturbed. He could feel that.

"Did you see something outside that brought you out here?"

"What?"

"When we arrived the lights were off, then while we were looking around the cemetery, I thought I felt you, not become afraid, since I was so close. It may have been anxiety. Now, something still bothers you, and you remain outside, looking … yet I see nothing unusual. Did something occur before I came up here?"

"No."

Heimdall went down the stairs nonetheless, and walked towards the back and the kitchen door, no longer in use due to the porch getting damaged. Jason, Hoyt and Terry had cleared the broken timber away once photos were taken, but it had not been replaced. There had been some basic shoring up to keep the washer and dryer supported and sheltered.

Sookie had no idea what Heimdall was up to, but when she glanced Pam was the only one in the living room. Her arms were crossed, her head was tilted, and she was studying the Christmas tree. She went in because Eric could be anywhere in the house, including her bedroom, or looking through the stuff in her bathroom.

Pam turned to her, and Sookie said, "Uh … Heimdall went ..." she pointed her finger to the right, then asked, "Where's Eric?"

"Kitchen."

"My kitchen?"

"Yes. Do you have wood for the fireplace?"

"Uh, not really. I meant to get that big tree cut up a bit, but you guys dragged it away from the house."

"I'll ask one of the boys to get some. Eric is fond of fire."

"Okay," Sookie agreed hesitantly. Eric liking fire might not be a good thing.

"You're not?"

"It's okay. If I had known, I could'a gotten some wood and all."

"Don't worry about it, Sookie. They can easily handle it. I think Heimdall met a guy who knew the woman that invented fire."

"Woman?" Sookie repeated. She knew Heimdall was not caveman old.

"Of course."

"What's Eric doing?"

"Making some drink or other."

"Drink?"

"It has to cook."

"For you?"

"No, you. Why would he cook something for me?"

"What about Heimdall?"

"We're on the same diet," Pam replied snidely.

"No, I mean the smell."

"He's all right with everything Eric has."

"I thought he couldn't be around any food."

Pam sighed unnecessarily, then rhetorically mentioned, "You've never discussed it. I can tell."

"How?"

"You're making it sound difficult."

"I find him difficult," Sookie admitted.

"Oi," Pam called.

"Yes?" Heimdall asked, entering the house after finding nothing alive worth mentioning outside.

"Eric wants you to start a fire here," Pam said, pointing at Sookie's fireplace.

Heimdall looked at the empty grate, and asked, "Where is the fuel?"

"You're going to have to get it."

"Oh. Did Eric say what he wanted? We had been discussing Jul a couple days ago."

"That's fine," Pam answered.

"Yule?" Sookie repeated.

"Yes, the Germanic feast that took place later in winter. The custom was moved to Christmas during the conversion to Christianity," Heimdall explained. "I'll get the wood."

When he left, Sookie asked, "Why'd you tell him Eric wanted it?"

"Why not?" Pam asked, taking a seat. "I'm certainly not going out there to pick up pieces of wood."

"Would you like a Tru Blood?"

"Thank you. Maybe later."

Sookie wanted an excuse to go find out what Eric was doing in her kitchen, without looking like she didn't trust him. When was the last time she changed the battery in the smoke detector?

Heimdall came into the room multiple times while Sookie tried to think of why she needed to go to the kitchen. He placed a hunk of log into the fireplace before arranging sticks around it.

"That's too big," Sookie said.

"I'll extinguish it later," he murmured, not turning from his task. "I've seen the wide end of a whole tree used, with the rest lying in the room. That is not practical."

His hands blurred as he built up enough friction to start the kindling. Without using the tools in the rack, Heimdall rearranged the positioning by hand to spread the flame.

Sookie was watching him, so Eric was able to come into the room without her noticing. He said, "Good idea."

Heimdall glanced up at Eric, then looked at Pam. She smirked and said, "You don't mind getting dirty."

"I don't," he agreed.

Eric sat down on the sofa opposite Pam.

Sookie glanced through the dining room towards the kitchen. What had Eric been doing in there? If he was fixing her a drink like Pam said, why was there no drink? And what kind of drink would Eric make? Would he slip some of his blood in it?

She decided to sit, and chose the seat next to Pam. Sookie did not want to give Eric the wrong idea.

Rather than sitting next to Eric, Heimdall went over to her Christmas tree. After a moment, he pointed at a photo ornament, and asked, "Is that your brother?"

"Yeah."

"He resembles Hunter."

"Oh, how is he? When did you see him last?"

"I saw him yesterday night. His health is good."

Pam asked, "Did he like the gift?"

"We put it under the Christmas tree for this morning. His father suggested that."

"Why'd you get him a gift?"

"Your cousin would not be able to," Eric pointed out. "It would sound strange if I called the queen and asked to talk to her human."

"Can't you see Hadley?"

"When I am next in New Orleans, I may. Again, I cannot ask about a specific human unless I want to draw attention to us. Sophie-Anne knows Hadley has had my blood, so she may want to see me, but as the vampire, I decide whether or not I desire to see her."

"Careful," Heimdall warned. "Andre will interpret anything as a threat to Sophie-Anne."

"Who's Andre?" Sookie asked.

"The vampire who loves Sophie-Anne most. When he heard of how easily Russell and I walked into her palace, Andre was on the next flight to New Orleans. He will not leave Sophie-Anne until she commands him, and at the moment, she's basking in the attention."

"She's his maker?"

"Yes," Eric answered.

"So that makes him even younger than her."

Heimdall corrected Sookie's perception, "Together they are formidable. Andre is aggressive and somewhat rude, so while your eyes are on him, Sophie-Anne is unwatched."

"Like you two?" Pam suggested.

Eric looked hurt, as Heimdall came to stand behind Eric, placed his hands on his shoulders and said, "Eric likes the attention. He does not have to behave badly to attain it."

Sookie felt that was a matter of opinion. Though if Heimdall found someone rude, she hoped she never met this Andre.

"So you smelled fairies in the graveyard? They haven't been to see me, except Claudine sometimes stops by Merlotte's for lunch."

Heimdall nodded.

Eric felt him move, and suggested, "Why don't you sit next to me? No one here expects you to serve me."

When Heimdall sat, Sookie noticed that Eric's toes weren't as bare as his maker's. He had on shoes, instead of flip flops. No socks were covering his sexy ankles. He was also wearing blue jeans instead of track pants. Eric still had on a black T-shirt, or maybe a tank top, since he still had on his black, leather jacket.

"Do the fairies also talk to your brother?" Heimdall inquired.

"Not that I know of."

"You share the same parents?"

"Yeah, of course we do. I don't know … maybe they've talked to him and he's never said anything to me. Or …" Sookie was thinking, then remembered, " … or I didn't see Claudine till I was almost dead. Jason's had more accidents than me, but he's never been in intensive care."

Heimdall's slow nod, caused Eric to add, "If they don't contact you till your life is almost extinguished and you are diagnosed as having no possible recovery, I'm still not understanding how your cousin was able to give Sophie-Anne enough information for her to conclude fairy blood. In France, there are more fairies than here, yet we rarely tasted them, and your blood while desirable, does not match a fairy's qualities. It's not even a poor imitation. Hadley's even less so."

"You fed from Hadley?"

"Sophie-Anne shares her stable of humans with visitors."

"Stable?"

"She maintains a sizable group," Heimdall agreed.

Eric added, "It's expensive, but Sophie-Anne cannot resist being ostentatious."

Pam muttered, "I wouldn't mind her clothes, but a day room? A vampire queen with a day room, with a pool, and recorded sounds of the seaside to greet her visitors. Good PR for the AVL about how we regret our disease."

"The seaside by moonlight is picturesque also," Eric replied. "I prefer the real thing. Sophie-Anne's scent pervades that room, rather than clean air."

Heimdall glanced at Eric. He knew Eric preferred living by the ocean and the smell that came with it.

Sookie smelled something spicy. She asked, "Speaking of smells, what's that?"

"You said you had no traditions, and I recalled spices from when I was human. It's radically changed, with many variations, and called wassail now. A typical greeting of good health was Ves heill. We celebrated for a week towards the end of January."

"Oh, it's cooking?"

"Heating slowly."

"It doesn't bother you?" Sookie asked Heimdall.

"No, I was not exposed to these spices while human. Their pungency does not resemble food to me."

Sookie thought that didn't say much for Eric's recipe, if Heimdall didn't recognize it as something consumable. The smell of chocolate chip cookies bothered him, and she knew they couldn't have been around since … whenever. Another thing she didn't know about Heimdall. Who had he been and where?

They became silent, and Sookie waited for them to talk again. That way she shouldn't start an argument with anyone. She wanted to ask Heimdall a lot of things, but not with others around. Eric got defensive, and Pam got sarcastic.

Pam did break the ice, with a drawn out, "So ..."

Having grown up with a brother that could be a total jerk, Sookie was ready to answer, "Yes?"

"Did you have a nice holiday so far?" Pam returned, like she had meant that all along, rather than putting Sookie on the spot.

"I saw Jason earlier today."

All three vampires continued looking at her, so Sookie decided that it was a safe enough question to ask, "On television and in the magazines, vampires are said not to celebrate Christmas. Is that right?"

"Varies," Pam replied.

"Not me," Eric added.

Heimdall was more forthcoming, "There's been changes that don't sit well with vampires that tried to remain religious."

"Really?"

"Like the Catholic mass is no longer in Latin," Heimdall answered. "Part of the Protestant Reformation was making the Bible, rituals and worship converted into the local language, rather than remaining with a language no longer in use, other than for documents. Even low-ranking clergy may not understand it. Due to religious persecution, it was mostly a decision by an entire country, dictated by a monarch. Individuals could feel strongly, but it is not like now. Protestant thinking was that every man should be able to hear the religion in their own language to better understand it. Previous Catholic thinking was that faith was enough, along with listening to those learned enough to understand Latin and also go to a seminary. Not always the case, because some church positions were bought."

Eric's loud sigh interrupted Heimdall, and he concluded, "So the changes from the Second Vatican Council to modernize Catholicism, from use of the vernacular language to the inclusion of laypeople in the liturgy, seemed like a new flavor of Protestantism."

"But why would the Pope care what vampires thought?"

"He didn't, and that happened in the 1960s, years before the Revelation. Isabel stopped going to mass. She would have done more, but Stan was Lutheran."

"Why did that matter?"

"Lutherans believe the Bible is all one needs. If Isabel rejected everything, except her belief in the Scriptures she knew, is that different from being Lutheran?"

"Lots of Catholics don't go to church."

"Are they still Catholic then? Oh wait, I'm sorry, they're still Catholic since they were baptized. They have a term - lapsed Catholic, because no sin can erase the gift of baptism."

"Why do you even care?"

Heimdall leaned back to sit quietly. He looked to Pam, who remained silent, then at the low table centered between the two sofas. Sookie wasn't angry, but the question was designed to provoke. She did this often. His answer didn't matter, only the opportunity to pick it apart.

"Because he likes it," Eric responded. Although he found religion, other than his own, boring, Eric was interested in what Heimdall was thinking, or had been thinking. Sookie was not going to ask the right questions. Eric already knew Stan, Isabel, and that disharmonious nest were the primary cause. They were too busy bickering to pay attention to Godric. He had not been thinking about sin and his soul seventy years ago.

Heimdall looked at Eric. His attitude towards Sookie had changed since Dallas, yet he thought Eric was willing to admit Compton gave her too much of his blood, rather than an inherited fairy inclination. They could not give her more of their blood presently to fight it, or there was a risk if Sookie was mortally injured, she could be turned unintentionally.

Eric stood, and urged Heimdall, "Come assist me in the kitchen."

"Me?"

"Yes, come with me."

Heimdall followed since he had agreed to listen to Eric's commands.

To Pam, Sookie said, "Heimdall brought up religion, not me."

"You prompted him to continue."

"No, I didn't."

It took Pam less than a second to recall the conversation perfectly. By responding to Heimdall's one sentence, Sookie asked him to continue talking about religion. She replied, "Your memory is flawed."

Huffing aloud, because Sookie didn't recall it that way at all, and vampires always thought they were right, she leaned back on the couch.

Dissatisfied that Eric had not lost his temper yet, while weighing that this horrible, cheesy music was better than listening to the 'mother of all smackdowns' at her nest, Pam decided to wait. They had not been here long, yet she felt Sookie was only getting started. There was something about her grandsire that rubbed Sookie the wrong way. Probably his humble quietness. Eric said he hadn't always been so bad before, but Pam never knew him to be outgoing. Pam speculated Sookie preferred the tragic hero, brooding for decades over losing his wife and children, never wanting to be a vampire, and after so long being able to forget about his loss though the pure love of … hm, all Pam could think of to favorably describe Sookie was blond and smelled good. She had to rely on others saying her blood tasted sweeter. Pam could live with or without the telepathy bit. It could be useful, but she thought it negatively affected Sookie's personality. Made her think she knew everything, rather than just a few somethings. Like when she wanted to take off to Jackson to find Bill and fight 'Nazi werewolves'. She didn't even want to take Jessica with her. Or maybe Jessica never wanted Bill found. He truly was a terrible maker.

While Pam speculated on what she would have done to Eric if he tried to dump her a few weeks after he made her, Sookie tried to listen to what Eric was saying in her kitchen. She had the music on too loud to make out if he was even speaking in English.

Eric returned with Heimdall following him. Heimdall had one of Gran's holiday serving bowls in his hands, and he presented it to Sookie. It was two-thirds full with a dark red liquid with little bits of stuff in it.

"What's this?"

"Wassail," Eric answered. "Try it."

"Is there blood in it?"

"No," both Eric and Heimdall answered. Eric added, "The base is wine. It used to be ale."

"What's in it?"

"Nothing harmful."

"You want me to drink out of a bowl?"

Heimdall nodded, as Eric sighed, and the elder said, "It's customary. Eric is not using you for some jest."

Pam scoffed, "Yes, we wouldn't want to jest on such a merry day."

Sookie looked at Heimdall. She couldn't believe he'd want to hurt her, or as he said, play some joke on her. Pam and Eric might. Probably. Pam definitely.

She held out her hands, still looking into Heimdall's eyes. Gently, he passed it to her, letting his hands linger till he was sure she had it.

"I sip out from the side of the bowl?" she asked.

"Yes," Heimdall replied.

When Sookie's eyes met his, as she delayed taking the first taste, Eric arched an eyebrow in response. What did she expect? Poison?

Sookie raised the bowl while lowering her head. She only tilted it slightly to take a taste. The liquid was quite warm, and tasted like wine. Sookie wasn't a wine person, or a beer person, and kind of liked sticking just to her gin and tonics, thank you very much. This smelled good, but didn't taste right. It got Sookie thinking of her idea of a ski lodge, sitting by the fire and drinking hot toddies. Not that she'd ever been skiing, but she'd seen it on television.

She took another sip, and then leaned forward to put the bowl on the coffee table. There was too much to begin with. Eric might have used a whole bottle of wine to make this.

"Um, there's a lot there," Sookie explained. "But it's good."

Heimdall moved first, and sat back down, where he was before. He knew Eric was disappointed.

Eric had crossed his arms over his chest, then feeling that his expectation may have been too high, also sat.

Pam smirked. Did Sookie think vampires cooked for everyone? That they had a bottle of wine, along with the spices Eric wanted? Or was this something she could have picked up pre-made at the mecca of mediocrity, Wal-Mart?

At least Lafayette realized Heimdall treated him well. Their former V dealer had called Heimdall while they were driving over here to thank him for the bottle Heimdall left outside his door last night, when he was on his way to or from Monroe.

Since Eric was now primed, Pam suggested, "How about presents?" She reached into her shopping bag, and pulled out a modestly sized gift, wrapped in heavy silver, holographic paper with a lavender ribbon and large bow.

"I didn't know you were coming, Pam, and after I thought that vampires didn't do anything for Christmas, I didn't even plan ahead for Eric or Heimdall."

"They buy everything they want. Unless you'd like to return the gift to us in some other way," Pam suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"We're vampires," Pam said, pointing out the obvious. "What do you think vampires enjoy?"

"Not that," Heimdall muttered.

"I'm the only one who hasn't tasted this spectacular blood yet, though I suppose I could track down that brother of Sookie's. He certainly was not shy about saying he wanted some of my blood."

"Jason? No."

"He's a V addict. He's already staked one vampire."

"But ..." Sookie knew it was true, well, sort of, he said Amy did it, but in Jason's basement after he helped her kidnap the vampire.

"Pam, you cannot punish Miss Stackhouse for her brother's actions. If she wants you to taste her blood, it has to be something she wishes. She is still my human," Heimdall warned.

"It was only a thought," Pam dismissed. Holding her gift out, she said, "Here."

Sookie didn't know if Pam was serious or not about the blood. She was somewhat grateful for the change of subject back to presents so took the gift.

Unwrapping it carefully, it was a shirt-sized gift box, and inside the layers of tissue paper, was a nice lavender twin sweater set. Pam got the size right, and it was labeled cashmere.

"Your favorite color, if I recall?" Pam inquired.

"Well, I like it ..."

"I did tell you it was mine."

"Yes, you did," Sookie agreed. That was a terrible night, and if she could do it over, Sookie would not have panicked like a silly goose and went running all over trying to find Bill. She still didn't know what really happened to get Bill from a French restaurant in Louisiana to making phone calls with Lorena tittering in the background to getting tortured in that bungalow. Something was never right about that whole thing. Sookie might even believe Bill's injuries were caused to have her pity him, give him a lot of blood, then he'd show up and give her even more of his. That way Sookie wouldn't care what else was going on as long as there was Bill around.

Eric stood, and took out the larger gift that Sookie caught sight of earlier. He said, "This is from us."

Us? If she was Heimdall's girlfriend or human, why wasn't he giving her something special? Sookie didn't want anything from Eric, unless he owed it to her.

"What is it?" she asked, allowing Eric to place it on the coffee table, next to the bowl of wine, rather than taking it from him.

Heimdall answered, "I thought it was supposed to be wrapped in paper to conceal it."

"Yeah, but I want to know what it is."

Eric and Heimdall exchanged a glance, then they both looked to Pam.

She said, "You need to open it to find out."

Sookie knew that, but she'd like some kind of hint first. It was a large, flat box. Bigger than a shirt box, or even one she'd use for jeans. It was the same size as the box that lavender dress that Bill sent her. Was the marriage proposal even real?

Heimdall asked, "Do you want us to leave?"

"What? No. What made you think that?"

"You feel angered," he responded.

"I'm not. Not at you. Or Eric. Or you, Pam. I mean I was guessing at what it could be."

"Nothing as extravagant as gravel," Eric assured her.

"We've already did our good deed since we donated money to have a charity for some disease wrap the gifts. You cannot refuse that," Pam added.

"What?"

"We do not have a need to have the accoutrements to craft such packaging, since we seldom need it. Retail establishments allow volunteers to set up a table to offer their service and experience, and in exchange, we can donate money to their cause," Pam explained. "I also saw it as convenient."

Sookie dragged the box towards her, tilting it to get at the bow and ribbon. It wasn't heavy, thank goodness. Eric could make any weight look light.

Whoever wrapped this did an excellent job of making sure the paper was snug and well-taped.

The vampires did not move, so Sookie felt self-conscious opening her gift. Eric's hint that it wasn't gravel was no help. She also did not think that Eric and Heimdall thought anything alike to choose a gift together. Eric seemed like the jewelry and flowers type, while Heimdall seemed to give thought to what a person needed, rather than what would make them momentarily happy while being of no use. However, what did Heimdall know about what she needed? They hardly talked.

It was a wool coat. One of those nice, wear-to-church type coats, rather than one for throwing over a chair or the rail at the bottom of the stairs. It was cranberry colored, and there was a matching hat and gloves. The gift wrapper got creative and taped a couple gift cards to the palm of a glove. They were cards to Shell, Mobil and Sunoco gas stations.

"Uh ..."

"The color or size is wrong?" Heimdall inquired.

"No, the color is right," Eric argued.

"And the size is correct," Pam stated.

"How do you know my size?"

"You've worn clothing I picked out for you before."

How could Sookie forget having vampire in her cleavage, besides being covered in Longshadow's blood? She had not dreamed about Longshadow in some time.

"You appear cold when you leave work, and you say things to your car about heating up," Heimdall explained.

"You've been watching me leave work every night?"

"Not every night."

"Why are there gas cards?"

"Lafayette said the price of petrol is high, and he'd like to stay the entire evening at Fangtasia to pay for the trip. With those, you would be spared the expense so you could come to Shreveport."

Eric said, "Gas is not that exorbitant, but that would be one less thing you'd have to worry going wrong with that thing you drive."

"That car has few problems. I bet you can't say the same about yours."

"Mine? My Corvette is well-maintained." Eric then added, "By professionally trained mechanics, not someone with a tube of Crazy Glue, a roll of duct tape, and some Bondo."

To himself, Heimdall silently repeated the term 'Bondo'. He had never heard of it, yet assumed it was something used to join two objects since it had the root word 'bond'. He then asked, "Your car needs replacing?"

"No," Sookie denied, as both Pam and Eric replied, "Yes."

"It runs fine," Sookie argued.

"You prefer it to the one Sophie-Anne gifted you?"

"I didn't take no gift from her, and that car has too many problems."

"It does?" Eric asked. He doubted Bobby would complain to him about a vehicle, but he had seen it being used by his day man.

"It's gonna cost a lot to maintain. That sort of car needs to go to a dealer for an oil change because of the warranty. Jason does mine for the cost of the oil and a filter."

Eric's thoughts soured. If Sookie was not Jason Stackhouse's sister, he would be as good as dead. Rather than showing gratitude, he made that relative feel indebted, when he rightly should be responsible for her and her safety, being the eldest male of the family. He couldn't help how he felt about the degeneration of family, but it was seen as progress, especially by Americans.

The vampires did not respond to her explanation of why Sookie did not want a BMW, so she said, "Thanks for the coat. I've been wearing the same one for years, and it was getting a little thin. Or maybe it's colder this year."

She also admitted to herself that the price of gas was ridiculous, and maybe she'd visit Heimdall at Fangtasia one night, or wherever he was in Shreveport. Though if he was watching her go to her car after work at Merlotte's, he could have at least said 'hi'. She didn't have hours of time to go driving to and from Shreveport.

Since they were now all doing that quiet thing, Sookie tried another sip from the bowl of spiced wine. It didn't taste any better now that it had cooled down a bit. She drank some more to try to keep Eric in a good mood. Not that she had to, but it was part of being a good host, and that's the way Gran raised her.

They waited for Sookie to suggest some activity. Pam had a couple rented DVDs in her purse, and Eric had put a deck of cards in Heimdall's bag.

As a new song started, Eric got a pointed look from Pam, so he suggested, "Would you like to play cards?"

"Uh, yeah. I got an Uno deck around," Sookie replied. It might not be the whole deck, but it was mostly there.

None of the vampires had heard of Uno, but did not interfere with Sookie retrieving the larger deck of cards and explaining the rules.

Eric looked to Heimdall. This sounded simple, but at times, his maker could not comprehend what looked easy to him, yet at other times, could absorb complex principles.

"Get rid of my cards by matching the color, number or words," Heimdall stated in response.

"Yes, anything with words, you should try to get rid of first so you're not left with the points in your hand."

"All right."

Pam understood the game without any problem, and she knew Eric enjoyed playing any kind of social game. The two of them were good at both whist and bridge, either of which was preferable to shouting 'Uno'. She knew Heimdall understood game strategies, since they found out Clancy enjoyed bridge. Since Eric was her maker, Clancy partnered with her, and Eric acted put upon and pretended to teach Heimdall what was going on. Clancy and Pam were slaughtered with Clancy believing it was incredible beginner luck. That's probably how Jessica and Hoyt were mopping the floor with him on the Wii.

The first hand went slowly, and Heimdall ended up holding two wild cards when Eric got rid of his last card. That made Sookie feel somewhat better about the full hand of cards she had. Pam kept hitting her with Draw and Skip cards while Eric kept the play going counter clockwise every time someone tried to reverse it.

Unfortunately, the only thing that remained the same for the rest of the game was the number of cards Sookie needed to draw. Both Pam and Heimdall were merciless, and Eric did ask Heimdall if he was taking extra cards when he got hit with a Wild Draw 4 three times in one hand by his maker.

Eventually, Pam won the game. She hadn't won many hands, but she managed to dispose of high point cards prior to someone else going out.

Sookie offered them Tru Blood after the game was finished, and all three declined before rising from their seats and thanking her for inviting them.

Standing at the front door, watching Pam drive away with them, Sookie wondered if tonight was successful. Nothing exciting had happened. Her life was not put in danger, if Pam was joking about her blood.

When Sookie went into her kitchen, she reconsidered her thoughts. Eric had made a mess. He did not clean up after himself. There was the empty wine bottle, with the cork beside it, Gran's dutch oven dirty on the stove, drips of wine on the stovetop along with brown powder. Since Eric didn't bother hiding the mostly full herb jars, Sookie now knew he used cinnamon and cloves. The cloves had been removed and were sitting in a sticky pile on the counter.

What a mess for something she didn't even like, and now Sookie was the one cleaning up. The floor looked clean, and nothing was broken, so it was better than Jason helping himself to emptying out her fridge.

After the kitchen was clean, Sookie put away her new sweater so nothing happened to it, and hung her new coat. She wouldn't wear it to Merlotte's, or Heimdall would think it smelt like there.

Of course Sookie was working at Merlotte's on New Year's Eve. It was a long night since everyone had to stay until at least midnight. Then there was a huge mess, including shredded paper all over the floor. Sam swore he'd never have confetti again.

Arlene was sitting on a stool while refilling the catsup bottles. Holly was taking care of the salt and pepper, while Sookie, Terry and Tommy got the bits of paper rounded up with brooms after sweeping it onto the floor from everywhere else.

Jessica left with Hoyt. She didn't bother hiding she was a vampire when it came to doing her prep work and leaving with her boyfriend.

Lafayette was in the kitchen talking to himself as he scrubbed the grill. He knew there was a connection between overdrinking and overeating. New Year resolutions to lose weight would be remembered the next day, after ingesting all the wrong food the night before. He'd rather have been at Fangtasia tonight, earning those fabulous tips. His year wasn't starting out too great financially or romantically, since Jesus called earlier to say he was covering someone's shift tonight who called out.

At the bar, Sam was privately feeling the same way, about romance that is. Still no word from Tara, who left after he told her he was a shifter. After a sadistic vampire, maybe it wasn't his fault, but Tara didn't take off after Franklin did a number on her. She came back to Bon Temps. She even stayed here after Maryann, and Eggs getting killed.

As they were getting their coats, Terry walked past, saying he'd go start the car and bring it to the door for Arlene, and Sam tried to shake off his mood by asking, "What're your hopes for the New Year, ladies?"

"Good health for my family," Arlene replied, putting her hands on her midriff. "What about you, Sam?" she asked in return.

Sookie felt some blue sadness from Sam as he replied, "I have everything I need. Bar's great, I like my doublewide, even though Tommy takes up some space. People here are as good as anywhere else."

"I'm gonna lose ten pounds," Holly declared.

Sam turned, and asked, "And you, Sookie?"

She hesitated. The ten pounds fallback was already taken. Sookie had no love life, and wasn't sure she wanted one.

"Well?" Arlene prodded.

"I hope not to get beaten up. I don't wanna have to see a doctor, and I never wanna go to the hospital again. So I guess the best way to put it is to stay out of trouble this year."

After a pause, Sam gave Sookie a brief hug. Sookie returned it. Sam was warm. Warmer than a person since shifters and weres had a slightly higher body temperature. Quite the opposite of a vampire.

They shared some more 'good night's as they got their coats on, and they headed out to the lot, got into their cars and headed on their way.

Sookie didn't have far to go. After a short drive on Hummingbird Lane, she pulled into her driveway.

She caught a flash of something white in her headlights, but it was off to one side. It looked person-sized. Maybe it was a fairy. She stopped her car, and winced at the grinding whine as she put her car in reverse. It better not be the transmission going.

It was cold out, even for January, and she wanted to get a better look before getting out of the car, in case it wasn't a harmless fairy. She doubted it was a werewolf. As some of Gran's cattier friends would say, Debbie Pelt couldn't wear white, even to her own wedding.

Seeing it again, Sookie squinted. What was he doing, she thought as she rolled down her window.

"Eric," she called out to him, because Eric was not paying attention to her.

He turned and looked over his bare shoulder, but acted like he didn't get it. This better not be some crazy vampire stuff, but then Sookie remembered she had just been thinking about fairies. Maybe one of them did something to him, though she didn't think they'd steal his shirt.

She threw the car into park, opened her car door, and yelled, "It's me."

"Who?" he said weakly.

"Me, Sookie."

Eric looked away, in the direction he had been slowly moving in. Could he be hurt, or was there something or someone else out here? Sookie wondered.

She got out of the car, knowing Eric would tell her to stay in it, if something was dangerous.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 12**

Sookie ran towards Eric because he was moving away from the driveway. She yelled, "Eric! It's me!"

He turned suddenly, fangs clicking out, his fingers were curled, and he hissed. Sookie came to an abrupt halt. If Eric attacked her, really attacked her, she was as good as dead.

Warningly, he said, "Stay back, woman."

Woman? What the fuck? Sookie said, "It's me, and what are you doing out here?"

"Who are you?"

"You know who I am. What are you doing out here, scaring me?"

"You know me? Who am I?"

"Know you? Of course I know you, Eric," Sookie replied, not sure if Eric was trying to play a trick or not. She knew he was a very good actor. He fooled Russell Edgington.

Eric's clawed fingers and arms dropped to his sides, and he asked, "Eric is my name?" as Sookie heard his fangs retract.

He didn't look like Eric normally did, to Sookie's eyes, and by the light of her headlights. She hoped he'd suddenly break into a smile and laugh at her, rather than this being a real problem. Oh no, if this was a real problem, Sookie was going to end up getting hurt, beat up, and probably needing vampire blood to live. "Yes, your name's Eric Northman, or that's what you're using. I think you told me your name's always been Eric. So what are you doing out here, instead of in Shreveport?"

"I don't know."

"For real?"

"For real," he replied, taking a half-step towards her.

Sookie was worried. Eric looked lost. It wasn't something she had ever seen him do before. She asked, "You know you're a vampire, right?"

"Yes, and you are not."

"Okay." Sookie then said, "I gotta know you're not going to hurt me. We're friends, even though you don't seem to remember me."

"I won't hurt you."

"Come get in the car before you freeze," Sookie said. His chest was normal vampire pale, but she was cold, and thought Eric should be too, without a shirt on. Wait, even though he said he wasn't going to hurt her, was that something he said all the time to people before he drank their blood?

Eric didn't move. He asked, "I do know you?"

Sookie couldn't help but let out a brief laugh. Oh yeah, she was intimidating. Even if Eric wasn't a vampire, he was almost a foot taller, and weighed a hell of a lot more pounds more than her with all that extra lean muscle.

"Yeah, you know me. Now, come on, I'm freezing and so are you."

When he didn't move, Sookie went and grabbed his hand. It was as cold as it ever felt. Eric let her lead him over to her car. Sookie was starting to think Eric may not be playing a horrible joke on her because he let her push him into the passenger seat with no comments about what he thought about her car, or its ability to make it up the rest of her driveway.

She went around to the driver's side and turned on the heat full blast, which wasn't as good as it used to be when Sookie first got this car. Normally, Eric undressed made her feel quite the opposite of cold.

As they started rolling towards the house, Sookie asked, "Do you know how you got here?"

"No."

Sookie suggested, "You don't remember running or flying?"

"No."

Pulling up to the house, Sookie still parked in the back, due to habit, and said, "Here we are."

"This is where you live?"

Sookie noticed Eric's head turning as he looked around at the house, the yard, towards the cemetery, and even back the way they came.

"Come on," she said as she got out. The initial rush of energy from seeing something odd by the side of her driveway was fading, and Sookie wanted to get inside, in case whatever did this to Eric was still around.

Sookie looked around herself as she quickly got to the front porch, and called, "You can come in." She didn't think she rescinded his invitation, but she didn't want to make a mistake in case there was something out there.

Eric entered the house and stood in the foyer, looking around.

Even in normal lighting, Eric didn't look right to Sookie. It wasn't the pale skin, since she saw that frequently in her dreams, but he was not himself.

Okay, no shirt, jeans, shoes, but no socks. His hair needed to be combed too. "Did someone take your shirt?"

"I don't know." After a moment, Eric commented, "You were out at night."

Sookie waited a moment for Eric to continue since it was obvious it was dark out. She then explained, "I was coming home from work."

"Women should not be out alone late at night."

Sookie made a face before saying, "I gotta work, Eric." She took the roll of bills out of her pocket, her tips for the night, saying, "I got this house, the car, taxes and insurance to pay."

"There's no man in your family?"

"My brother, but he's got his own house," Sookie answered. Jason was doing something else for somebody, but she had never gotten a clear thought on who or what, just that stuff needed doing with Jason thinking up a shopping list. She didn't think it was a girl because there was no thoughts of sexy lingerie.

"Your brother permits you to work at night?"

"My brother don't got any say in what I do. Um, I think you should call someone. How about Pam?" Sookie asked, knowing that Heimdall answering a phone, even for Eric, was dicey.

"Pam?"

"Oh for Pete's sake, your uh … second in command? Pam."

Eric appeared to have no idea who Pam was either. Great. Sookie said, "Let me call her and find out what's happening."

"What if she's turned against me?"

Sookie's eyebrows raised. Pam turn against Eric? Her first thought was that couldn't happen, but then, Sookie realized she had to throw all her assumptions away because she shouldn't trust vampires.

"I'll um … kind of ask to find out," Sookie said. "You got your phone?"

"What phone?"

Sookie's hands were out before she thought to explain, "I'm just going to check your pockets. You're usually good about making sure you have your phone on you."

She didn't have to feel much because Eric's jeans fit him just right, at least to an appreciative woman's eyes. There was nothing in his pockets.

"That's okay, maybe it would be better if I called from my phone because Pam would be suspicious if I was using yours."

Sookie called the club, and a man answered, "Fangtasia."

She guessed the man had an accent and asked, "Chow?"

"Yes, how may I serve you?"

"It's Sookie."

"Oh," he responded, dropping the sexy vampire act, and said, "We're kind of busy here. Happy New Year."

"Looking for someone?" Sookie asked, trying to be vague. She didn't think Eric's idea of vampires turning against him was true, since he couldn't remember his own name, but if fairies didn't do it, and werewolves couldn't do this, then it had to be vampires. The vampires that had the most to gain from getting rid of Eric were the ones he worked with. Though Pam knew who Heimdall was, so Sookie didn't think she'd be in on any plan to get rid of Eric while he was around.

As she was thinking that Chow was taking too long to answer, he said, "Wait a minute."

Sookie did not hear anyone pick up the phone, so was momentarily startled as Pam said, "Pam," when she silently picked up the phone.

Okay. She had Pam on the phone, and a nervous Eric in front of her with her head full of thoughts that someone or something could do this to Eric, whom she considered pretty much unstoppable. "Uh, do you still have a master?" Eric called Heimdall that a couple times, and that was Eric's code name at Fangtasia.

"I do," Pam stated. Then said, "We have some problems."

Really? Sookie thought to herself sarcastically. It seemed the biggest problem was right in front of her, not Pam. She responded, "He's here."

"He is alive?"

"Yes."

"Damaged?"

"Mentally."

Sookie listened, and heard nothing. Pam didn't breathe, sigh, gasp, or let loose a string of unladylike language. Finally, she responded, "Will he be a danger to you?"

Did Pam care about what Eric did to her, or about Sookie keeping Eric here? Since Pam was not using names, Sookie guessed she shouldn't say too much, like asking where Heimdall was to get Eric's ass out of her house. What if he was missing too? Sookie glanced out the window. Was he outside too? And why at her house? If Eric had no idea who she was, why was he lurking next to her driveway? Trying to remain practical, and focus only on what she knew, Sookie answered, "I don't think so. It seems to be a matter of memory."

"I hate witches. Humans had the right idea, burning them at the stake."

Witches? What the fuck? Sookie did not need another mind-blowing explanation at three o'something in the morning.

"Can you keep him during the day?" Pam asked. "Dawn is less than four hours from now, and we may be watched here. Do you have a safe place?"

"Day? Uh, yeah, but you'll get him tonight? I don't want to get involved with any more of your vampire shit."

"We'll be there," Pam replied.

"Okay, see ya then," Sookie replied and hung up.

Eric was looking at her. What could she tell him? Pam sounded okay for someone who didn't want to say something on the phone, except for that witches part. Heimdall said something about Holly being a witch, but Holly couldn't do anything to Eric. Why would she? How could she?

First things first. Get Eric set for the day, and then she could get some rest.

"Okay, Eric, let me get you a Tru Blood so you don't get hungry. What you're going to do is stay here with me for the rest of tonight and during the day, and then Pam will come get you tonight."

Sookie was already heading towards the kitchen, when behind her, Eric asked, "You won't let anyone get in?"

She stopped and turned, replying, "I'll do my best, Eric. Let me try calling someone else while I microwave a bottle for you."

Heimdall's phone went to voice mail. Sookie knew that happened a lot, but asked Eric, "Do you know where Heimdall is?"

"Bifröst."

"Where's that?"

"It's the bridge between Miðgarðr and Ásgarðr**.**"

"Is that close to here?" Sookie asked, handing Eric the warmed Tru Blood.

He took it, but looked at her strangely, before saying, "This is Miðgarðr."

"What do you mean by Miðgarðr?" Sookie asked, no longer able to avoid trying to repeat the strange word.

"Everywhere. This is the middle enclosure, or the world inhabited by humans."

"Are you trying to say Heimdall's dead?"

"No, he will be one of the last to die at Ragnarök. He and Loki will die at the hand of each other."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Eric looked annoyed, and took a swig of his Tru Blood, then made an offended face at the bottle, before saying, "You brought up the subject by questioning me about the god, Heimdall, woman."

"God? What? He's a vampire."

"No, Heimdall is the god that guards the bridge to Ásgarðr since his sight and hearing are the most penetrating, and he also has the power of foreknowledge."

"Are we talking about two different things? I know your Heimdall can hear things like crazy, but he's a vampire."

"The only Heimdall I know of is the god with golden teeth."

"Okay, Heimdall definitely does not have gold teeth." Sookie didn't know if Eric meant dog yellow, or actually gold metal. Heimdall's were neither.

"He does."

"No, not the one I'm asking about."

"There is no other Heimdall."

"Listen, there's a vampire who keeps changing his name. Right now, his name is Heimdall and he can help you, if we know where he's at. He doesn't like talking on the phone so it might be a while before I reach him, but Pam might be able to find him."

"We are not meeting with Pam tonight?"

"We will, but I thought if we could get Heimdall, he could tell us what happened to you, and get you back home. Maybe whoever did this got rid of him first since he could be more trouble than you are."

"I am trouble?"

"Not … oh, what I mean to say is when you do get into a fight, you are good at it."

"You are claiming that the vampire with the name of a god is better?"

"Yeah, but Pam said this was done by witches so I don't know what that means. If they could drop you in Bon Temps with you unable to even remember your name, who knows what could have happened to Heimdall."

"I know Heimdall?"

"Oh yeah."

"We are rivals?"

"No, he's uh … I think he's your best friend."

Eric nodded, then took another drink before asking, "Although it is good to have friends, what kind is he? One that is kept close to watch?"

"No, you're uh … okay, we've already covered you're a vampire, and I'm not … so he's your maker."

"My maker? I still live with my maker?"

"You didn't till recently. You wanted him to live with you."

"Why? Am I infirmed in some way?"

"No, you're not," Sookie answered. It was pointless to mention Eric's giant ego when it was currently absent. "Oh, and almost no one knows that Heimdall is your maker. Pam's the only one around here that knows."

"You know because I share my secrets with you?"

"Not many, but I met Heimdall before he came to live here, so I recognized him."

"I am ashamed he is my maker?"

"No. God, no. He's the best vampire there is."

Eric looked expectant, then finally prompted, "Besides me?"

Since Eric was having a rough night, and Sookie didn't need any trouble, or hurt feelings, or whatever amnesiac, centuries-old, Viking vampires had ticking away in their skulls, Sookie said, "I didn't think I had to mention that. You're … obviously the only thing that um, these witches were afraid of, if we're to believe what Pam said on the phone. We'll have to wait to find out more tonight about who did this and why, but it's probably because you're … you."

He nodded his understanding, and Sookie took the empty bottle to rinse since Eric put it on the counter, not even close to the sink.

"Okay, come with me, and I'll show you where your gonna be during the day."

Eric followed Sookie upstairs, and she took him into the bedroom where Bill altered the floor of the closet into a trapdoor and created a hidey hole.

"Shut the door, and the flap of carpet will go back in place. I'll put everything back in the closet when I get up."

Eric looked at the hole skeptically, then at the boarded up window that Sookie meant to get fixed when she had a fantastically good night of tips. Jason had put plastic up inside to try to save her some heat, but this was beyond new panes of glass and putting the putty around it. The frame had gotten broken between Sookie having extra strength from vampire blood, and Debbie Pelt being a werewolf bitch. It needed to be completely replaced. She knew how much it cost, and Jason could put it in once she bought it.

"Do I have to get in now?" he asked.

Sookie was taken aback. Was Eric asking if he had to do something she said? When did Eric ever do what she wanted? "No, I mean, you'll know when the sun's coming up, right? You're not gonna miss that, right?"

"No, I know when that is. Can I stay in the same room as you till then?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess, but I'm going to sleep so I can't warn you when dawn's coming."

"I can feel it. Three hours, six minutes."

"Okay," Sookie replied, wondering if Eric made that up, or he really had an internal clock that in tune with the sun. "Come on."

Sookie went into her bedroom got her things together and retreated to the bathroom for some privacy. Vampires saw perfectly well in the dark. She returned in her nightgown, wearing a robe, all washed and brushed, and looked at Eric sitting on the chair.

"Good night," she said, then got in bed with its worn, yet very comfortable, sheets and blankets.

After she turned off the light, Sookie felt the mattress sink. She hadn't told Eric he could lay down with her. Was this where she'd find out this was all some joke? She was tired, so if it was, she might kill Eric.

"Woman?"

"What?"

"What's your name?"

"Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse."

"Thank you, Sookie."

Sookie automatically answered, "You're welcome," then felt around to find Eric's hand, then held it as she went to sleep. She barely had time to hope she didn't have some hot and heavy dream about him while he was next to her.

Something prodded her, and Sookie woke to someone whispering her name.

"What?" she moaned.

"Who is that talking?"

"What?"

"Who is speaking?"

"Eric, I don't hear anything."

"Listen."

"What do you hear?"

Eric said something, but it was in a language other than English.

"What's that? I don't speak that."

"Do you think it's a threat?" he asked, taking hold of her hand again.

"What did he or she say?" Sookie asked, growing nervous.

"I think it's a man. The voice is too soft, but it said it will be joining me soon."

Sookie asked, "Do you still hear it?"

"No," he replied.

Eric lay back down, and with his free hand, touched her hair.

She remembered Godric in the basement of the church telling Eric he was downstairs, but how did that work? If Eric's hearing was half as good as Heimdall's then he could have heard a voice he recognized. It could also be the witch that did this to Eric, or even a fairy outside.

There was a sudden flurry of movement in the dark. Sookie felt Eric's weight suddenly gone from the bed, but then something hit the floor hard.

Someone commanded, "Stop it, Eric. You'll break things."

Before she turned on the lamp, Sookie realized the quiet voice was Heimdall's.

He was kneeling on Eric's shoulders, and Eric was lying flat on his back on the floor.

His hair was flat and unstyled this morning, yet he was wearing long shorts, a hoodie, and sandals, even on January first. Heimdall also had his messenger bag, and a couple other bags slung on his shoulders. The tussle with Eric apparently did not dislodge them.

"Where've you been?" Sookie asked, followed immediately by, "What happened to Eric? How did he lose his memory and forget his own name? How did he end up outside my house when he can't remember who I am? And why doesn't he recognize you?"

Heimdall looked at Sookie, down at Eric, then back at her.

"I do not know much. My phone was downstairs on the charger, and I did not hear it till a short while ago when Pam called. She asked me to pack some necessities and find Eric. I was not to be followed. She said she would tell us what she knew tonight."

Sookie realized something. Heimdall heard everything except his own phone ringing? And Eric believed it when he claimed that before.

"You don't know what happened to him?"

"No. What happened, Eric?"

"Who are you?"

"Heimdall."

"My maker?"

"Yes."

"You're just a little boy."

Sookie had no idea why Heimdall smirked, but he answered, "I'm not." He stood gracefully, despite having two straps on each shoulder, and asked, "I can get off you now?"

"Yes."

He reached down and pulled Eric up.

"What's all that you got?" Sookie asked.

"Clothes, money, paperwork, in case we need to leave the country."

"Why would you leave?"

"I do not know what has hindered Eric's memory. If it cannot be fixed, perhaps he would be safer at home."

"Home?" Eric asked.

"Yes, you may not recognize it, yet I think you will feel most comfortable there. It is remote."

"I live with you now?"

"The reverse, Eric. I came to live with you."

"Why?"

"It would take time to explain."

"We have hours till dawn."

"We need to go."

"Go where?"

"Go into hiding."

"What about the woman, Sookie?"

"Does anyone, other than Pam, know you were here?"

"No."

"Miss Stackhouse cannot go to ground with us, Eric."

"I am staying here."

Heimdall switched languages, and Sookie did not know his brief question to Eric was, "[Why?]"

Eric continued in English, "She took me in when there was no one else."

"I do not know why you came here, Eric, yet it is safer if no one know where we are."

Stubbornly, Eric repeated, "I am staying here."

Heimdall argued, again in possibly the same language Sookie did not recognize, "[No, you go with me. There is too much risk here. Miss Stackhouse behaves erratically which may endanger you further.]"

"I don't believe you," Eric said, persisting in English. "Sookie is my friend with whom I trust with my secrets."

Sookie sputtered as Heimdall glared at her, "Just a couple things. I was trying to help him, Heimdall."

"Whatever you do know, you cannot manage to keep secret," Heimdall accused.

"I know that Eric's in trouble, and I gotta help him."

"We do not know what the danger is. It would be best to draw it away from you."

"Stop arguing with her, or leave," Eric stated.

"You are asking me to leave?" Heimdall clarified. He was not going to leave Eric, however he would like to know the extent of Eric's attachment to Sookie. Heimdall knew she could appear sympathetic and helpful, yet she could also behave irrationally. On the other hand, when Eric wanted something, especially a woman, he could be unreasonable also. Losing his memory seemingly had little effect on this.

"No," Sookie butted in. She didn't want to be alone with Eric when he didn't know anything. Heimdall could keep him safe better than she could. "I want both of you to stay here till Pam gets here tonight. She won't like it if I've lost the two of you."

Heimdall pointed out, "Pam must accept my judgment."

"Yeah, but I'll be left here alone, and she ain't gonna wanna hear that from me."

"We must stay," Eric expressed again.

"I did not come here to argue."

"Then you're staying? I showed Eric the space below the closet that Bill made."

"Who's Bill?" Eric asked.

"Sookie's lover, and a vampire who wants us both dead," Heimdall responded. "I will choose our resting place."

Eric accused, "You did not mention a lover."

"He's not my lover or anything any more," Sookie replied, regretting she even mentioned that lying asshole's name.

"He is deceased?"

"Maybe," was Heimdall's reply. "His arrogance and lack of foresight made him many enemies."

Eric's memory may be gone, but he was capable of putting together the pieces of this tale. He asked, "Sookie is my friend, and I can tell she has had my blood, yet she is the lover of my enemy, and asked me to rest for the day in a space he created and therefore is well aware of?"

"I ain't his lover. If he's alive, I'd consider him my enemy too if he just showed up on my doorstep. He hired people to beat me up, drained me and left me for dead, and lied to me all the time."

Heimdall studied her, then added, "And she sided with him when the two of us were battling an even older vampire and tossed a silver chain into the fray to inhibit us, possibly causing our final deaths, _after_ Bill did all this to her. In fact, shortly after having my blood to recover from being drained, she found Bill, invited him into this house, and had primal sex with him on the floor of the room across the hall, allowing him to drink her blood again."

Sookie almost denied that last bit, because she was sure she wouldn't have let Bill drink from her again so soon, but then remembered he did bite her every time they had sex, and that hot make-up sex certainly wasn't any different. She instead explained, "I didn't mean for the chain to hit you."

"If that was not the case, why not walk around our fray, and throw it at Russell's back?"

"He's trying to turn you against me, Eric," Sookie explained.

"What Heimdall says isn't true?"

"Sort of, but he's making it sound bad." To Heimdall, she said, "You're over two thousand years old, act your age."

"You are no longer lovers with Bill, have had my blood … are we lovers?" Eric asked, thinking that would be a favorable circumstance.

"No, I ain't no one's … um, sort of, right now." Sookie grew uncomfortable at Heimdall's blue eyes resting on her. It was his fault. He said he was not her boyfriend, so that didn't make them lovers. They had sex a couple of times, and the last time was after he smelled that fairy stuff. Besides, he wasn't exactly acting nice to her by filling Eric in on everything she did while she thought Bill was her soul mate, or whatever. Sookie had been caught up in the fantasy that the only man for her had to be a vampire, because she was so special, the right guy was only born once every other century.

Eric turned on Heimdall and accused his maker, "You are making Sookie melancholy."

His child was weak when it came to crying women. All thoughts of possible danger were erased from his head, and Heimdall could not refer back to all the previous times that a tearful woman, young, curved, nubile, and possibly blond, had done this to Eric. Of course, there was the way Sookie smelled that probably made her more attractive, and he found Eric lying beside her in bed, holding her hand and stroking her hair. There was no smell of sex or blood, but it was not yet dawn, as Eric pointed out. Besides, Sookie was not smelling her best since she still reeked of the food at Merlotte's. Eric had little aversion to the smell of food.

"We can stay here during the day to meet with Pam this evening, but I will choose where we rest, Eric. Additionally, we must stay hidden for now. There is no one to protect Miss Stackhouse during the day, if we are seen."

Heimdall also meant this as a warning to Sookie. Her loquaciousness took on different shades, such as complaining without wanting a solution, frequent reminders of something obvious, and a need to make herself appear knowledgeable or formidable. Her attitude that vampires, werewolves, and fairies were no danger to her could easily extend to witches. She may even attempt to find them in Shreveport, if that's where they were. He did not know much about them since they initially approached vampires without him being present, and whatever they did to Eric was also while he was not at Fangtasia.

"Do you think Holly had something to do with this, or knows something?"

"Your colleague from Merlotte's?"

"Yeah, you told me she's a witch."

"I was under the impression she was pleased to have medical insurance for her family. She may be able to cast destructive magic, yet I don't think she's that sort of person. You know her better than I though."

"Maybe Eric did something to her at the club."

When they both looked at him, Eric asked, "Who are you speaking about?"

"A waitress, however I don't think you have molested her in any way," Heimdall replied.

"What does she look like?"

"A woman, yet I think she would not welcome such advances. Witches avoid carnal knowledge of a vampire."

"Why?" Sookie asked.

"In their beliefs and way of doing things, nature is important. To them, vampires are unnatural."

"Oh, like doing their spells during the full moon?"

"There is not a full moon tonight," Heimdall denied.

"There isn't?"

"No, it almost coincided with the solstice in December, so it will not be full again for nights."

"Are you sure?"

"I am positive the full moon did not occur tonight. It is not important to the discussion regarding witches. They are obviously unhindered by its absence." Heimdall was frustrated by Sookie's interrogation regarding something inconsequential. He knew it was not currently the full moon, like how he knew the sun was rising to the east. Witches could cast spells at will, and were not tied to calendars, and large amounts of foliage, herbs and different rocks. They also did not wear pointy hats, have disfiguring marks on their faces, dance around bubbling cauldrons, or prefer the company of black cats.

"What are you going to do about them?"

"More needs to be known."

"But you were talkin' 'bout running away."

"I am prepared in case we cannot return to the house in Shreveport. This may not be what they intended to do to Eric."

"I will not run away," Eric asserted.

"Eric, you have no idea who did this to you, why, or what they were trying to accomplish. You have some enemies, and the only advantage they gain from you like this is you don't remember who they are."

"Like you?"

"The only two vampires you can trust absolutely are myself and Pam. Between us, we can name and recognize who would do you harm."

"How do I know that?"

"I am your maker, Eric." Heimdall switched languages again on Sookie and said, "[There are centuries of love and devotion between us.]"

Like Sookie, Eric could feel Heimdall. Actually, he could feel the other vampire more clearly than the human. He spoke the truth, besides a great deal of feeling being present that shamed Eric that he even asked.

Heimdall touched Eric and softly said, "[Nothing is more important to me than you. I know you wish to fight back, yet until we understand the enemy, we are at a disadvantage.]"

"Hey, when you speak whatever, I think you're keeping secrets from me in my own house," Sookie complained. They were probably speaking about her. Heimdall was trying to make her sound like she couldn't be trusted, and Bill wasn't around anymore to cause trouble.

"We're not," Heimdall replied. "I am irritating you when you're tired. Go to sleep, and we'll see you this evening."

Irritating her? Heimdall was doing a lot more than irritating her by making her sound untrustworthy to Eric. Eric was the sneaky, lying, high-handed vampire, not her. Normally, that is. Right now, he was more like a lost puppy, or a powerfully strong, lost puppy. She couldn't believe Heimdall was thinking about leaving and not doing anything to whoever did this to Eric. If Eric knew who he was, he wouldn't bother listening to Heimdall, but would be kicking ass.

"I want to be kept in the loop 'bout what's going on."

Heimdall looked away from her, and made a slow, small circular motion with a finger as he tried to interpret what Sookie said. Loop? In the loop? Was it a reference to rope, shoe laces, or a roadway? Was a reference to a loop even relevant?

Likewise, Eric did not understand the reference either, and he plainly asked, "What do you mean?"

"By what?"

"In a loop?"

"I want to know what's goin' on."

"We are in hiding," Heimdall said, certain he had said that earlier. "I will conceal our belongings in your house, and then find somewhere for us to rest that does not expose us to anyone."

"What if I come across ya by accident? I think it's safest to hide in that cubby under the closet floor."

"I have already stated my reasoning on why that is not acceptable."

"Even if Bill's alive, he can't go anywhere during the day."

"He can tell others, who can enter this house without restriction, where the hiding place is."

"But he wouldn't even know the two of you are here, unless you were seen."

"I was not seen," Heimdall declared. "It is not inconceivable that vampires can associate with other beings. I will protect Eric, and the best way I know of that is to be unpredictable and not speak of it. We will return to the house this evening to meet Pam, unless I see something has happened during the day."

Sookie couldn't believe Heimdall was trying to suggest she wouldn't protect Eric too, but needed to ask, "Like what?" about what could happen to her house. She finally got the footprints off the ceiling over the stairs from when Maryann threw her party here.

"Perhaps Bill will tell witches about you and where to find you, like he did werewolves."

"Bill didn't ..."

"They ignored you in the restaurant. Their senses are good enough that they could find anyone else in the building, and it would be stupidity to think Compton was sitting in a restaurant alone."

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"No, I am reminding you that until more is revealed, it is difficult to know who is our enemy, their capabilities, and their ruthlessness."

"Actually, Eric's enemy."

"Any enemy of Eric's is an enemy of mine."

"But they don't know that unless they know who you are."

"Perhaps you have already told them."

"I haven't told that many people, and vampires recognize you."

"I also recognize them. Must we continue discussing this? You need rest if you are to be vigilant at any time during the day, and we will be going over our options tonight with Pam."

"Pam ain't gonna want you leaving the country."

Heimdall remained silent on that. He knew Pam despised the farm in Ørland. However, Eric's and her lives were worth more than her being bored. If these witches were local and acting alone, they would not follow them to Europe. Witches could be troublesome, if vexed. Since Heimdall did not know why they chose to do this to Eric, other than Eric's brief mention that they demanded money from him, he felt they should prepare for the worst. Without money and passports, their options would be limited.

Eric looked to Heimdall, then Sookie, and then asked, "Can I stay in here till dawn?"

"If you wish. I will get you sooner because I need time to move us and dig."

"You're gonna sleep in dirt? The closet-"

"We have already discussed it," Heimdall interrupted. "Vampires have slept in earth for many years. With care, we are difficult to find."

"No, because I can still feel your minds when you're resting. Oh, Eric, I'm a telepath. I can only read humans, but I can sense when vampires are around 'cause your heads are like an empty spot. Weres and shifters are hard to read, they do pictures, colors, emotions, not the same kind of thoughts as people."

"You would track us down while we rest?" Eric asked.

"No, well maybe, just to know where you are."

"Why?"

Heimdall was quiet because he knew Sookie was not threatening to dig them up. This was her way of saying he was not clever enough to hide them, if she wanted to find them. She could also tell others where they were resting because she had a habit of talking, but if witches or their allies threatened her, then she wouldn't say where they were, so they'd initially have to befriend her if they wanted her help. At least, he thought that was the way Sookie acted, but he was ready to admit he did not understand half the things she did.

"I'm just saying that I could, if I wanted to, and maybe I would find you, by accident, unless I needed you, but since I've had blood from both of you, if something was wrong, you'd wake up anyway."

Eric looked doubtful, and when he turned to look at Heimdall, Sookie realized that her explanation didn't come out sounding too good, so continued, "Good night. I do need to sleep."

"You can stay here, Eric. I'll hide our things and investigate around the house."

Although Eric had initially asked to stay with the woman, Sookie, he did want to contribute to their mutual protection.

Heimdall saw him start to follow, and instructed, "I can perform the task better alone. I will return for you when I'm done."

Sookie saw the disappointment in Eric's posture, before he turned back to her.

Consolingly, she said, "There's more than these possible witches, there's werewolves and fairies, and you sort of got a treaty with some of the fairies. Then there was this maenad thing that was here and made everyone act crazy while she sacrificed people by cutting out their hearts for her religion. She looked human but her blood was poison to vampires. Bill was spitting up green stuff."

"This Bill, where is he?"

"He got in trouble with other vampires because … well, I'm not sure what was the truth with him, except he lied to me all the time. He lied to vampires too, including you, and I think he had it in mind to kill you, Heimdall and Pam, along with the vampire queen of Louisiana. She took care of him."

"If Heimdall is over two thousand years old, how old was he? How old am I?"

"He was about a hundred and fifty, and I think you're over a thousand."

"Why would he be regarded as a threat then?"

"Bill teamed up with a vampire that was three thousand years old, but he was playing him too. I think he hoped you'd kill each other off."

"Why would I kill my maker?"

"No, he wanted the other vampire from Mississippi to kill you both. It was a mess. I'm not even sure who was on Bill's side all along, other than Bill."

"You?"

"No, 'cause he called me on the phone to talk nasty after he went back to his maker."

"That is where he is now?" Eric asked.

"No, I staked her ass."

"You enjoyed staking a vampire?"

"If you remembered Lorena, you'd stake her too. She was a total bitch."

Eric asked, "Do you think either myself or Heimdall is a 'total bitch'?"

"No, besides, Lorena tried to kill me twice."

"You seem irate with my maker. Has he tried to kill you once or twice?"

"No, but Heimdall … it's complicated. He wants to keep me safe, but at the same time gives me no say in how it's done."

"If I am the target, getting away from you sounds like a reasonable plan to keep you safe."

"But we don't know how you got here, what happened to you, or who did it."

Lying back down on his side of the bed, Eric looked at the ceiling and commented, "We will find out more from this Pam tonight. I doubt she has the answer to every question, or else this would already be resolved."

Talk about the power of positive thinking, Sookie thought to herself. Eric already imagined this being resolved. Whereas, Heimdall was ready to retreat to another country before they even knew what happened.

Sookie turned off the bedside lamp again, and took Eric's hand. She hoped Eric was the one that was right.

She was asleep before Heimdall returned to ask Eric downstairs. They sat in the dark, talking lowly. Heimdall did most of the talking, repeating Eric's own words back to him regarding his life before he was a vampire. He assured Eric that he knew how much he valued his father's crown, and it was packed with the belongings he had brought here. Rather than finding out more specifically about his maker, Heimdall quoted poetry instead.

When the feeling of the sun's approach grew stronger, Heimdall took off his clothes and asked Eric to do the same. After he disappeared, moving too quick for even Eric to tell where he went, Heimdall returned, took hold of Eric's arm and asked him not to resist. Eric was unsure of what happened. He felt weightless, yet like he was adhered to the floor until Heimdall guided him through the kitchen, under the back door, and they slid towards the ground, coming to rest in the crawl space under the house.

Eric was lying on the cold earth, and Heimdall whispered in his ear, "The ground here is frozen and stale, having not seen sunlight in over a century. I've already prepared a spot for our resting place. Miss Stackhouse values her house so I doubt she'd willingly let it be damaged to prove where we rest."

"I do not believe she'd do that."

"I want to think that too, but she does things I cannot explain."

Heimdall dug deep into the earth he had loosened earlier, allowed Eric to position himself first, then pulled the dirt onto them as he settled against his larger child's chest for the day.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 13**

When Sookie woke slowly, there was no longer any large blond vampire in her bed, holding her hand. She was alone and there was sunlight peeking around the edges of the heavy, closed shades.

She assumed Eric was wherever Heimdall deemed partially safe for the day. Sookie understood his desire to keep Eric safe from others, and probably himself right now, but there was no need for him to be a paranoid, little bastard. So what if Bill made that spot under the closet floor and joined it with an empty space made by the stairs? Bill wasn't ever coming back. If, and that was a big if, he was alive, she'd kick his ass if he came near her, and she certainly wouldn't let him into this house. Besides, how would he know where Eric was, if, again another huge if, he even knew something was wrong with Eric. To vampires, Sookie was a mere human with tasty blood. Not some super hero, and her house was no sanctuary. Busted window, smashed back porch, dirt, mud, tree limbs, leaves, and where she least expected it, discarded underwear from cleaning up after Maryann's house party.

After thinking all that, and getting riled up, Sookie was now awake and ready to get moving, rather than lying in warm blankets all morning.

Actually, it was kind of later than usual, so she had to get her ass in gear for work. Oh no, how was she going to be here tonight, if she was at work? Did Pam mean she'd come later, or as soon as it got dark? And what would Heimdall and Eric do while she wasn't here?

She walked in a circle, then noticed the stuff from the bedroom closet across the hall was still pulled out. Did they go in there after all, or was it still out from when she showed Eric the trapdoor that Bill put in?

Heimdall and Eric were close enough for her to feel two empty minds somewhere, but it wasn't as easy as she claimed to tell distance and direction. She went down to the kitchen and got a flashlight, then brought it upstairs, and shut herself in the closet after making sure the remaining window shades were pulled all the way down. It seemed pretty dark to her. Sookie turned on the flashlight, flipped up the unfastened corner of carpet and lifted the trap door. It was heavy, and difficult to handle without being able to swing her rear end out into the room with the closet door closed.

They weren't dead just below her, and Sookie was going to let the trap door drop down till she noticed her flashlight pass over something darker than the old wood beams to the side. She had stepped into the hole, onto the piece of plywood that Bill put in to give a flat, stable surface, before she realized that she needed both hands to hold the trap door up, and if she didn't do this right, she could end up getting smacked in the head, and no one would know she was in this stupid cubby hole.

Sookie edged towards it, her body casting a shadow between whatever it was and the flashlight on the floor behind her. She slipped her foot out of her slipper and poked towards it with her toes. It was some kind of fabric. Maybe with a flap and something dangly like a zipper pull.

She kicked at it a little, but it didn't move. Was it wedged in a particular spot, or was it the end of something bigger? Bill had to have put it in here. No one else knew about this but him, and now Eric and Heimdall, but she didn't think Heimdall even bothered to look at this as a possible resting spot. And Eric didn't have anything with him last night, except his form-fitting blue jeans and shoes.

After letting out a huff of frustration, Sookie decided she'd have to let the trap door close to use her hands. Backing up to get back to the flashlight, Sookie grabbed it, and used her other arm to keep the door from closing too quickly.

She bent down and allowed the trap door to close above her. There was a couple of dead bolt type locks on the bottom side, that Sookie left undone.

Crawling to see, Sookie saw it was a black canvas bag. Did Heimdall stick his messenger bag here? She touched it, and it was different. Heimdall's was definitely oil cloth. Gran had an old kitchen tablecloth treated like his bag. His also had a flap and buckle. This had zippers.

Unzipping the main zipper that ran along three sides, Sookie looked inside. There was a laptop computer, cords, and a bunch of CDs or DVDs in cases. They weren't marked with the names of bands or movies. Just plain. Oh, in hard to read, almost the same color writing as the silvery white side of the disk, it said Staples CD-R recordable discs.

Sookie put the stuff back in the bag while thinking of who she knew that had a computer. Gran didn't, so she didn't. Jason had one. She bet he only got it to watch porn. He certainly didn't need it for his job.

After putting the shoulder strap over her shoulder and chest, Sookie used both hands to lift the door. Damn, it was heavy. Bill made it look so easy to open and close. Bet it made it easy for him to hide something in her house too.

Once she got it pushed over enough that it was resting on the closet wall, Sookie wished she had a step stool to get out. Her arms were kind of like spaghetti after holding that door up, and getting a foot up onto one of the house beams while wearing slippers wasn't ideal.

Annoyed at finding something hidden in her house, which meant more vampire shit, unless Heimdall confessed this was his computer, which Sookie doubted, she made up her mind to call in sick. She wanted this resolved. Eric, hidden computers, witches, werewolves, and whatever else was out there ready to piss her off.

Sookie put Tara's shoes, bags and other stuff back on the floor of her closet. It hadn't been Tara's closet when Bill cut up the floor and added hinges, it had been her bedroom, sort of. Sookie had been moving into Gran's room at the time, and Bill noticed that the stairs, both from downstairs to up here, and the attic, created an empty spot in the house.

Taking out her cell phone, she called work. The bar didn't open till four today because it was New Year's Day.

Sam answered the phone, "Merlotte's."

"Hey Sam, I'm not feeling too good. Is there a possibility someone can cover my shift today?"

"I guess, Sook. The girls I hired are looking for more hours, and Jessica could help cover getting food to tables."

"Thanks. I'm sorry I couldn't give you more notice."

"Is Bill back?"

"What?"

"Just strange for you to call out sick, cher. You're healthy as a horse. I mean I don't mean that as an insult, you've said it yourself."

"Normally, but I don't feel well," Sookie said, feeling bad that she was lying to Sam. She couldn't tell him about Eric, or at least not yet. Maybe later.

"You have been working too much. Can I cut back on your hours next week?"

"Uh, maybe one shift a day till I'm sure how I feel," Sookie replied, not sure how long Eric was going to be like this, or if something happened to Pam to prevent her from getting him out of her house. "I'll need to pick the double shifts back up for the money."

"Even though I hear ya, it could be why you're feelin' poorly."

"I know, Sam. Listen, all I wanna do right now is go back to bed."

"Okay. Hope ya feel better."

"Thanks, Sam."

Underneath the house, Heimdall overheard the telephone conversation. Sookie did not feel ill to him, uncomfortable, but not sick. If she was missing work, and not making the money she needed, in order to protect them by watching her house during the day, that was going to be a problem. If he tried to give her some of Eric's money that he brought, she might refuse it and become offended.

He continued to listen since there was nothing else to occupy him while lying in the cold ground against Eric. One of the reasons he was so amenable to sleeping in a building was his early hour of rising.

Sookie moved around the house, yet did not talk to herself to give him an idea of everything she did. The only thing he was reasonably sure of is when she took a shower, and she ate something after heating it in the noisy microwave.

Until he moved to Shreveport, Heimdall had ignored those sounds from the kitchen of his nest, but now he associated it with the foul taste of Tru Blood.

Eventually, Eric shifted.

In Old Norse, Heimdall whispered, "[It is still day.]"

"[Yes,]" Eric agreed.

When Heimdall said nothing further, Eric asked, "[Is the woman safe?]"

"[Yes, you hear her above us?]"

"[Yes.]"

Unsure of what the relationships were, Eric asked, "[You do not like her?]"

"[That is not true. I don't understand Miss Stackhouse. I am too old to understand humans anymore. I respect them, and wish them the freedom to make their own decisions, yet when I try to advise caution or a better course of action, I do not know why I am either ignored or argued with.]"

"[Don't you respect her opinion?]"

"[When I am not in agreement, she takes it personally. Not choosing to spend our day in another vampire's resting place does not make sense to her. She has also pursued Bill Compton when we have both warned her that werewolves and other vampires are dangerous.]"

"[Pursued a vampire?]"

"[He played to Miss Stackhouse's desires. Compton asked her to marry him, then when she was blinded by her tears of joy, disappeared on her. His maker was in the next state, and he left enough clues for her to follow him. I believe he was securing a position as sheriff with her blood. Miss Stackhouse is part fairy. That is why she smells the way she does."]

"[Did I play any part in that deception?]"

"[We did not know why Compton was gone, but once we knew werewolves and an older vampire were involved, we asked her not to go. When she persisted, you called in a debt from another werewolf to escort and protect her. Later, when things were dire, you went yourself and deceived the other vampires. Compton may have tried to discredit you, you only gave me some brief details, since my task was to protect Pam from the true death. Compton had also given the Magister damning information about you, when you were acting on orders from the queen of Louisiana, to whom you owe fealty.]"

"[Where is this Compton now?]" Eric asked. Staking him sounded like a fine idea.

"[When he raised his hand against the same queen, she took him with her. If he still lives, he is suffering. Both Sophie-Anne and her child, Andre, are inventively cruel.]"

"[I did not make him pay for betraying myself or Sookie?]"

"[There was not time, and your liege takes precedent. You should put him from your mind unless he reappears.]"

"[Sookie has said his name multiple times already.]"

"[He is vampire, and so are we. As a whole, we are deceptive, cruel, heartless killers.]"

"[Is that why this was done to me?]"

"[Lately, I only know of you, actually us, killing a vampire and his consort. His view on humans, which he revealed quite publicly, should not have caused witches to attack you. From what you said, these witches want money because you have it. Since vampires are aware of witches, blackmail is believable.]"

"[How can someone blackmail me if I forget who I am, who they are, and what I have?]"

"[Very astute, Eric. Perhaps they think Pam will capitulate on your behalf.]"

"[What about you?]"

"[They would not recognize me as formidable, unless Miss Stackhouse warns them. After being asked to keep my identity a secret, she has told numerous humans.]"

"[Why?]"

"[That is part of what I don't understand about her. She says some favorable things about me, yet at the same time, cares little for me.]"

"[Perhaps you don't understand women.]"

"[You have told me that many times.]"

Both heard an engine and the sound of tires on the driveway. They stopped speaking to each other and listened.

Sookie saw a parish road truck pull up. She glanced about, but Heimdall and Eric hadn't left around anything to indicate there were two vampires hiding in or around her house. She wished she knew where they were so she could distract anyone looking for them.

Jason barely brushed his knuckles on the door before opening it.

"Hey, Sook," Jason greets her.

"Hi … Jason," she added his name, knowing Heimdall's hearing, but not knowing if he was awake or dead right now.

"Hey, you know that big vampire? The blond one, Eric?"

"Of course," Sookie replied. It wasn't like she could deny it since Jason was in Dallas.

"When I was at the Grabbit Kwik, there's a poster up. He's been kidnapped."

Sookie's eyes widened. The last thing she wanted to be accused of was kidnapping Eric. He was in her driveway … wait, if Pam knew where Eric was … did she put that up before she called her? Wait, no, because she wouldn't have been on the phone at Fangtasia if she was putting up posters everywhere, especially in Bon Temps. They were like an hour from Shreveport.

"His friends are offering fifty thousand dollars to anyone seeing him."

Cautiously, Sookie tried, "That sounds odd. If someone could kidnap a vampire, especially one as old as Eric, he wouldn't be out in public to be seen. And wouldn't he only be out at night, when it's dark?"

"They gotta do something if drainers got him. That's enough money to maybe turn one of them against the rest of the gang."

Gang? Sookie thought that sounded good. Drainers would need a gang to even attempt taking Eric.

"Do you know anything?" Jason asked.

"What?"

"Last night at Merlotte's, did ya sense anything? I'd split the money with you."

Sookie scoffed, "That's mighty generous."

"What? I could follow up on anything you heard. You need money, and I need money. The insurance didn't cover the truck as much as I liked. I sent them pictures."

Rolling her eyes, Sookie suspected Jason's children would be lucky to have as many photos taken of them. She stopped, and realized something, "I don't think vampires put that poster up."

"Well, they would have hired someone."

"No, I mean … you know Heimdall, right?"

"Uh ..."

"_From Dallas_?" she hinted heavily.

"Yeah, but I still don't know why he changed his name."

"He feels bad about what happened and people dying."

"That's all Steve Newlin's doin'. Godric can't be blamed for realizing Newlin's a lying, sum bitch, and whatever he told him wasn't true."

"Yeah, well, the thing is he's Eric's maker so he can find Eric anytime and anywhere."

"Really? Huh," Jason grunted, starting to think. "Then who's lookin' for Eric? Do ya think it's someone tryin' to find out where he is during the day? He's also towards the top of the VILF list. If he was in California, New York or another big city, those crazy bitches might put him way in the lead."

"VILF?" Sookie repeated. She had never heard of the word.

"Yeah, vampires I'd like to fuck. Like MILF."

"What?"

"Mothers I'd like to fuck."

"Huh?"

"Hot women that have had children. Some of them are still smokin'."

"So you wanna … get with Eric?" Sookie asked in disbelief. Jason had never mentioned having any sort of guy crushes before.

"Not me," Jason denied vehemently. "It's on the internet. Some fan girl sites where they compare their local vampires and put up pictures."

"Those don't sound like people that got fifty thousand dollars to throw around."

"Won't know till we call."

"You don't know where he is."

"I can guess he'll be at Fangtasia tonight."

"You and hundreds of other people."

"Do you have a better idea of where he might be?"

"Why would I?" Sookie responded.

"You were hanging around Bill."

She reminded her brother, "Who didn't like Eric."

"I don't like him either, but I can at least recognize him to go around him."

"You should be thinking about that then. What if he don't want to be found?"

"If it's not vampires looking for him, I guess not. But don't they all know he's at Fangtasia all the time?"

"He doesn't sleep there."

"He doesn't?" Jason asked. "Where does he?"

"I don't know," Sookie lied. "Vampires are supposed to keep their resting places secret."

Beneath her feet, Heimdall's face screwed up. When they were in Compton's lair, she tried numerous times to tell him where he rested, and last night, tried to give the location of one of his alternate places.

"You don't know anything that could help us find him, and get this money?"

"I think it's a hoax, Jason. It could even be a publicity thing for Fangtasia. I know they send out postcards for special holidays. You mentioned that VILF thing, maybe they're building up something for Valentine's Day already."

"Damn. I could really have used this money."

"So could I, but if it's in any way real, Eric ain't gonna like it, and money ain't worth anything if you end up dead."

Jason was about to scoff that Eric wouldn't, but then remembered his warning regarding V. Yeah, he knew that was a vampire that killed people all the time, but was careful not to leave the bodies laying around where either they were found, or could be linked to him.

He changed his mind, and said, "You might want to tell your vampire friends about the poster then. If it is a publicity stunt, it's damn stupid."

"That's something a vampire loves hearing, Jason."

"Hey, it's the truth."

"So that's why you came by?"

"Yeah, Sam said you called in sick. You look okay to me."

"I'm sick, Jason. Don't let my ability to put on my fuzzy slippers fool ya. It's in the back of my throat bad, and it'll just get worse if I don't take care of it, and then I could be out a week or more."

"Hey, don't get any closer. I gotta work too."

"Okay. Did you want a Coke or something?"

"Yeah, sure," Jason replied.

The vampires listened to Sookie move around, not saying anything while she got her brother a beverage.

Jason took the can of Coke, opened it with a hiss, and drank deeply, before saying, "Thanks. I'll see you later."

"Bye," Sookie replied.

Beneath the house, Eric quietly asked, "[Is that a great deal of wealth?]"

"[I'm not sure. I like using the number fifty to mean many.]"

"[Fifty thousand is a thousand times that.]"

"[If you say so.]"

"[It is.]"

When Heimdall did not reply, Eric asked, "[Do I have that much?]"

"[I am not good with numbers, yet you always have abundant wealth, Eric.]"

"[Does this woman need money?]"

"[Yes, but she does not like accepting gifts.]"

"[If I became her lover, I could then give her things.]"

"[You do not know her.]"

"[You do not think she'd become my lover?]"

"[Not that. She still does not want gifts from lovers. Sookie says it makes her feel like she is being paid.]"

"[Paid?]"

"[Prostitution.]"

"[How many lovers does she have?]"

Heimdall gave that a moment's thought, recalling what Sookie said this morning, while he was present. He responded, "[None at the moment.]"

"[Then she can be mine.]"

Having already tried his best to explain how Sookie was different, Heimdall warned, "[Eric, do not get us expelled from this dwelling until we are ready to leave.]"

Eric smiled knowingly, even though he had no recollection of his past conquests. However, he knew what he wanted. Of that, he was sure.

Even when Eric did not know who he was, his mind was still on women. Was it only because Sookie was the only woman he currently knew of? Hopefully, he would become reinfatuated with Pam this evening. Sookie was harsher on Eric than she was on him. Heimdall did not know how Eric would respond to that in his current frame of mind. Would he also be as unfazed by refusal or cruelty as before, when Eric does not have a multitude of women admiring him?

"[You are worried]," Eric states.

"[I understand how you feel, yet I do not think it wise to stay here.]"

"[I am known to associate with Sookie? Being here would put her in danger?]"

"[She does know you, is not your friend, and verbally insults you. She has struck you, but it did you no harm.]"

"[That is good.]"

"[Why?]"

"[My conquest of her will be challenging.]"

Heimdall sighed. Louder than he had been speaking. Perhaps Pam could make Eric see reason.

Knowing Heimdall did not understand since he was perpetually trapped in a too young body, Eric fell quiet to listen to his prey above. Sookie had smelled of human food, beer and something else sweet that he'd like to explore further in much closer detail.

When daylight faded, Heimdall whispered, "[I will move us into the house. I'll let go of you in the shower so we do not soil her house. She is slow to clean it.]"

"[Your power …?]"

"[You can fly, Eric. I can not. You are normally happy with that.]"

"[I fly? Fast? High?]"

"[All that and more. You fly almost as fast as I can run.]"

Eric smiled at that before his body faded away into a shadow in his maker's arms. He was aware that they went under the back door, through the kitchen, up the stairs and into the main bathroom, even though Heimdall did it at a speed that would be difficult for young vampires to detect.

Heimdall said as he closed the door, "[Start, while I retrieve our clothing.]"

He had seen Heimdall undress this morning, yet did not give particular attention to his anatomy till now. Eric was curious regarding his maker's immunity to a woman's charms, especially one of succulent as Sookie. Even as an older boy, Eric developed a healthy interest in women. Now he saw the problem. In his opinion, whoever defaced his maker was monstrous.

Feeling his child, Heimdall looked around in confusion trying to find the source, then reached into the shower. "[This is the hot water, and this is the cold. When it's the temperature you like, pull this up, and the water will come from the round spigot over my head.]"

He turned to look at Eric when a hand ghosted down his back. Heimdall asked, "[Is something wrong?]"

Understanding that he probably knew already, and it would be painful to tell again, Eric chose to reply, "[If it was not for me, you would not be here. I appreciate your help.]"

Not knowing what Sookie told Eric before he arrived, Heimdall neutrally replied, "[You would do the same for me, Eric.]"

Hearing water, Sookie went upstairs. She hadn't seen or heard Eric or Heimdall. Now, she opened the door and got an eyeful of them. The grand prize winner of the best butt award and the first runner up.

"Oh, sorry," she said, and did not close the door too quickly.

Eric turned and gave her a grin. Obviously, memory or not, Eric did not mind full frontal nudity.

"We were trying not to disturb you till we were clean," Heimdall mentioned.

Clean? Oh yeah, they were covered in dirt. The floor between the door and the tub had some earth on it. Great. And now water was going to be mixed with it. Fantastic.

"I like to know what's goin' on," she reminded him.

Heimdall nodded, then said, "I was going to get our clothes, while Eric washed first."

"Perhaps Sookie could aid me?"

Turning to him, Heimdall complained, "I've shown you how the water works."

Eric ignored him. This was not the time to explain such things to the boy, if he hadn't before. He doubted the subject had never come up.

Annoyed at the transparent suggestion, Sookie pointed from the doorway, "Everything ya need's in here. Soap, towels, and try not to get water everywhere. If ya need real help, just wait till Heimdall gets back."

"Is Pam already on her way here?" Heimdall asked.

"How would I know?"

"Feel her."

"How?"

Heimdall looked thoughtful, then asked, "Can you feel this?"

Eric jerked and said, "Obviously."

"Pam should be similar, yet don't push it, just relax into the feeling. I called you to help you pinpoint the sensation."

Sookie watched Eric's face change as he tried.

"We'll know soon enough," Heimdall concluded, as Eric's face twisted with effort.

"I cannot feel you when you aren't doing what you did," Eric said.

"Makers control the connection. Perhaps when you meet Pam, you'll rediscover the connection. Only Pam knows I'm your maker, among the vampires here."

"Sookie mentioned that. Why?"

"It is difficult to explain, other than my feigned inexperience would draw drainers to me. You have had some in this area, and are too easily recognized to fool them yourself."

"Drainers?" Eric repeated.

"They waylay vampires, and drain them of their blood for profit."

Eric looked unhappy at the sound of that.

"Now, get washed. I'm getting our clothes."

"I could get them," Sookie offered.

"I wouldn't want you to be further burdened by our presence," Heimdall replied.

"It's no trouble, unless you hid them someplace I couldn't reach. Hey, by the way, did either of you put a computer in the hole under the closet floor?"

"Your computer?" Heimdall asked.

"I don't know who it belongs to."

"I think Eric's is still at his house," he answered.

"No, this is a laptop."

"Eric might own one, yet I don't think he'd bring it with him to put under your closet."

"No, he wasn't carrying anything last night."

Eric added, "I did not bring it."

"Do you think it's Bill's?" Sookie asked.

"Is his name on it?" Heimdall asked.

"No," Sookie denied, thinking that was a stupid question. "If it was, I wouldn't bother asking you about it."

"Pam would be a better person to ask," he replied, not understanding why Sookie was getting angry. She must realize that he did not know anything about them.

Sookie's mood was not lightened by Heimdall disappearing, so nothing was between her eyeballs and Eric. She had dreamed about that body too much, she thought to herself, spinning around and walking out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

She was still standing outside the door a moment later when she overheard Heimdall talking whatever language and Eric answering before the water started going in the shower again.

Her hand hesitated as she reached for the doorknob. There was no reason to call Heimdall out on avoiding her. He kept saying he needed to get their clothes. They better not make a muddy mess in there.

Going downstairs, Sookie glanced outside before making sure everything was straightened and clean. Not that she cared what Pam, or any vampire thought about her. They and others caused messes. Like Eric and that werewolf that Bill told where she lived, or worked, or whatever. Those werewolves from Jackson weren't a smart bunch so someone had to tell 'em where to find her, and she sure as hell never gave Lorena her address or asked her to stop by Merlotte's any night.

The vampires did not make any noise coming down the stairs. They were in the doorway to the living room together.

Eric's hair was wet, but in his normal style, since he got it cut short. Obviously, Heimdall must have picked his clothing because he wasn't wearing track pants and a tank shirt, but a pair of normal pants and a monochrome, oatmeal-colored, pullover sweater with ornate cables and designs that Sookie never had the patience to learn how to knit.

Heimdall was dressed similarly, with light gray pants and his pullover in blue. Sookie noticed that the color matched his eyes. It was a moment when he looked handsome to her, even next to Eric, and despite whatever he tried to do with his hair. His hair was also wet, and combed straight back. Whoever colored his hair made sure it was perfect for his regular style of messy twists, not when he decided to have a bad hair day, or bad hair night.

Sookie wondered if she shouldn't go use the shower, and turn the water on cold.

Not used to Sookie's mood swings, especially when he was sure she had been irate most of the evening, Eric stated, "You are tense."

"A bit," she answered. "I'm not used to you being unsure of things, even when you're wrong."

She laughed at the look on his face. Obviously, amnesiac Eric found it hard to believe he was ever wrong.

"Why don't ya sit down? Pam'll probably be here soon."

Sookie momentarily missed the real Eric when he looked to Heimdall to tell him where he should sit. Eric took the chair, and Heimdall stood beside him.

There was a knock at the front door.

Heimdall turned his head slightly, but didn't say anything.

Going to the door, Sookie yelled, "Who's there?"

"We are here," Pam replied.

Sookie glanced at Heimdall and Eric. Eric was still sitting, with Heimdall's hand on his shoulder. He had moved to stand behind Eric and the chair. She knew that was deceptive looking because Heimdall could move faster than Eric.

Opening the door, Sookie saw both Pam and Chow outside on her porch.

Pam was wearing a cream-colored sweater and camel pants. Chow was wearing a suit, similar to how Sookie first saw him dressed when they came to take Bill to that trial for staking Longshadow. She hadn't warmed up to him since.

"Come in."

Pam's eyes immediately went to Eric when she stepped into the foyer. "You are well?" she asked, adding a deep nod towards him.

Beside her, Chow intoned, "Master," and bowed at the waist.

"I know you," Eric stated, rather than questioned.

Chow looked at Pam, and she answered, "We work for you. We owe you fealty."

Sookie tried to head for the kitchen, since they'd be talking vampire stuff, and knowing them, they might not even talk English. Eric didn't have any trouble understanding what Heimdall said to him when she was around.

"Please don't go," Eric said, surprising Sookie and Chow, and amusing Pam.

She looked to Heimdall, but his eyes were currently downcast like Eric's shoulder was fascinating. Deciding it was best that they get to talking so they could all get out of here, Sookie trudged over to the couch next to Eric and sat down.

"What's he doing here?" Chow asked, pointing at Heimdall.

Pam answered, "Heimdall is good at hiding. He can stay with Eric and not draw attention."

"With the way he looks?"

"He was able to avoid the Magister, Nan's people, and Russell either didn't notice him, or realized he was not worth bothering with."

"Not worth anything is more like it," Chow replied lowly. He had gone into hiding himself, so he had not wasted time on finding out what others were doing.

Pam sat, Chow hovered, and Heimdall moved to sit on the floor, between Eric's leg and Sookie's.

"Okay," Sookie started, "my brother said he saw a poster up saying Eric was kidnapped. In Bon Temps. Was that something you guys put up?"

"No," Pam replied. "What else did it say?"

"It offered fifty thousand dollars reward for information."

Sookie leaned back as both Pam and Chow seemed to lean forward.

"Information?" Pam repeated.

"Yeah, but I didn't tell my brother anything 'bout Eric bein' here so he didn't call."

"What about you?" Chow suggested.

"I told Pam where Eric was last night. I don't gotta go callin' anyone else."

"That poster is not ours," Pam said. "The witches must be working fast to have posters this far from Shreveport already.

"It might work," Chow answered. "I advise getting rid of the witness."

Sookie stood, saying, "Don't you lay a hand on me or my brother."

"Or?" he responded.

"What is this about?" Eric demanded.

Eyes shifted to study each other, before Pam said, "Sookie needs money. She's human. She will turn you in to the witches."

In a moment of panic to defend herself, Sookie thought about rescinding all their invitations so they'd all have to go walking backwards out of her house. That was a great feeling when she did that to Bill and Eric. However, it wouldn't help any because they'd be lurking outside her house waiting for her to come out at night.

"We should recompense Miss Stackhouse," Heimdall suggested. "She is missing work tonight to be here."

Sookie stared at him. She didn't make fifty thousand a year waiting tables at Merlotte's, much less in one night.

"You also don't want to deal with the people that come after you make that call," Pam informed Sookie. "Several nights ago, we heard at Fangtasia, from a human wishing to impress Chow, that a group of witches had arrived in Shreveport."

"So?" Sookie asked. "What's the big deal about witches?"

"Witches can be trouble. Real ones have power." With a hand gesture indicating Eric, she added, "Obviously."

"So what are they doing in Shreveport?" Sookie asked, sitting back down. Shreveport was the 'big city' compared to Bon Temps, but it wasn't a big deal compared to other places.

"That is a good question," Chow said. "Much better than wondering if witches are dangerous."

Sookie frowned at Chow. She didn't need his sarcastic comments.

"They want to take over Eric's businesses," Pam replied. "Or that's what they claim. They want money, and either they can say they want Eric's businesses, or expect Eric to pay them to leave him alone."

Sookie's eyebrows lifted and she made a face of disbelief. Someone thought they could blackmail Eric? "What would make them think they could force you to do anything? Vampires are out now."

"They don't have to do it publicly. Businesses can develop problems from their spells, such as our drinks going bad, accidents on the dance floor, and don't even go into plumbing problems."

"Best case is we'd lose customers," Chow said, "but they'd keep it up till someone got hurt or killed then sued us."

"Fangtasia becomes worthless without revenue."

"Is that why they got rid of Eric? He is a draw to the club. For some women, he is _the _reason to go. But how did they get him to here to Bon Temps without a shirt and forgetting his own name?"

Pam looked to Chow. Chow looked to Pam. Eric looked to Sookie. Heimdall sat vampire still, looking towards the floor.

During the silence, Eric decided to reach out and hold her hand, and Heimdall put some fingers on Eric's bare ankle.

Chow was the one that finally decided to explain, "One of the witches, calling herself Hallow, made the threat to ruin Eric's businesses. We had told her we would consider her threat. Last evening, one of her lackey witches was waiting at Fangtasia with another proposal." After a moment's hesitation, Chow said, "This was more personal. During that first meeting, Hallow decided she liked what she saw."

"The club? Even with the white tablecloths, the whole reason for it being successful is the vampires."

Pam's eyebrow arched, and it was Chow who elucidated, "Yes, the vampires. One in particular caught her interest. She sent this lackey to communicate that if Eric would entertain Hallow for seven nights, that she'd settle for one-fifth of his businesses, rather than one half."

"What? A fifth, instead of a half? Is she fuckin' crazy?" Sookie blurted out.

Pam looked at Chow, and he gave his head a slight negative shake, before continuing, "Our master refused in highly insulting, contemptuous terms."

Fighting a grin, Pam face still scrunched as she commented, "Not impressed with Eric's masterful use of the English language as a non-native speaker, Hallow cursed him."

"Why did you say 'no'?" Sookie asked Eric. It could be that Hallow was as hideous as a witch from a kid story, but she didn't think that would have an effect on Eric's libido. Didn't he brag he could do it all night with Yvetta down in that horrible basement?

"I don't remember," Eric replied slowly. "I didn't know my name until you told me."

"Do you remember doing anything to get out next to my driveway?"

"I don't remember anything before you found me."

"Eric vanished from Fangtasia," Pam said. "The three of us were in his office, arguing with him regarding his refusal, with the young witch present, and then he was gone."

"You don't remember that at all?"

"No, I was a void till you found me. Born at that moment in the dark and cold."

"And where were you?"

Sookie had directed the question to Heimdall, or the top of his head, since it seemed that this could have been avoided if he were there. After she nudged him with her foot, he replied, "I made a delivery to Monroe, and was home until Pam's call to come here."

"Why weren't you at Fangtasia?" Sookie asked. They had a New Year's Eve bash there too.

"I do not go to the club unless Eric wishes me there."

"Without Jessica or Lafayette to keep an eye on him, there's no work for him," Chow informed her. He looked to Pam, and asked again, "Why is he here?"

"Do you want him up your ass? I don't," she snapped.

"Perhaps Clancy ..." Chow suggested vaguely.

"Okay, let's go back to why Eric was dumped here. He can't give a fifth, a half or anything if he's not in his right mind. Do you think he'll snap out of it?" Sookie asked.

There was silence, Eric's hand in hers fidgeted, and Heimdall turned his head slowly to look up at Eric.

"Chow lost his temper with the messenger witch," Pam confessed.

"And that's when Eric vanished?" Sookie clarified.

Chow clarified Pam's answering nod with an excuse, "How was I supposed to know she was trapped with a spell? I have never heard of such a thing, and therefore cannot be held responsible for what happened to Eric."

"I see no reason why the spell would send Eric specifically to Bon Temps," Pam mused.

"This is a backwater," Chow said in agreement.

"Can't witches cast a spell to find Eric? Isn't that cheaper than offering fifty thousand dollars?"

"Since we are dead, many spells that work on living things would not work on Eric," Chow explained.

Sookie replied, "I think you don't know what you're talkin' 'bout since ya already made one huge mistake."

Chow's fangs extended and when he lurched forward, Eric ordered, "Sit."

Ignoring them, Pam speculated, "I think Eric should stay here, with Heimdall. With him out of the way, we can concentrate on taking countermeasures against the witches."

"What?" Sookie blurted out, pretty much matching the look on Eric's face. "How can I protect Eric? This is gonna end badly with me either gettin' beat up or killed."

"I was under the impression you craved danger and sought it out," Pam responded.

"What about paying her?" Heimdall asked.

"If I called those witches I'd be gettin' fifty thousand," Sookie said in order to get Eric out of her house, and to keep herself alive.

"I don't think that's what they'll deliver," Chow countered. "I think it more likely to be some sort of violence, or you'll turn up in Shreveport without recalling who you are."

"Can't you give Miss Stackhouse fifty thousand dollars?" Heimdall asked.

"Ten," Chow answered.

Sookie replied, "Forty," before she had time to think both ten thousand was good, then it wouldn't be any good if she was dead.

"Twenty."

"Thirty."

"Done," Pam answered.

After a moment of thinking how stupid she was, Sookie remembered something, and asked, "If I show you a laptop computer, can you tell me if it's Eric's?"

"Eric brought a computer with him?" Pam asked.

"No, I found it in a case, hidden in my house, and I don't know who's it is."

"I doubt it's his, but let's see it."

Sookie got up, after peeling off Eric's hand, and maneuvering around Heimdall. She went upstairs and got the bag, and brought it back downstairs.

"Here it is," she said, as she put the case down on the coffee table.

Pam looked to Chow, and he unzipped it. Both of them looked at it, then leaned back on the couch.

"What?" Sookie asked.

"It's a Dell," Chow said, stating what was written on the obvious circle on the outside cover.

"Yeah," Sookie agreed.

"Eric does not have a Dell."

"Can you tell whose it is?"

"Did you try turning it on?"

"No, I don't have a computer."

"Everything looks to be here. And the cords only fit into one specific type of hole, so you can't get that wrong. Let me see if it'll turn on using the battery."

Chow took the computer out of the bag, opened it up, and pressed a button. Sookie saw some lights come on, then after waiting, there was a burst of a musical chime, then Chow said, "It's password protected."

"Is that a standard Windows icon?" Pam asked.

"I don't think so, but isn't that a common flag around here? It could be anyone's."

Sookie looked at the screen. In the middle, was a small square with a Confederate flag pictured in it. Below it was a white rectangle for a password.

"I think it's Bill's."

"Why?"

"He fought in the army, and that's the flag."

"Did he happen to tell you his password?"

"No."

"Try Sookie's name," Pam suggested. She doubted it was the password, yet it would be fun to see Sookie's face fall when it was proven not to be the name on Bill's mind.

"That's spelled …?" Chow asked.

"S O O K I E," Sookie answered.

She saw the cursor move as Chow typed.

"No," he said.

"Lorena?" Sookie reluctantly suggested.

"No."

"Sophie-Anne," Pam suggested.

"No." Chow took his fingers off the keyboard, and asked, "If this is Compton's computer, what would be on it that you'd want to see? His games?"

"Not his games, but he has to have something on it to hide it under the floor of a closet."

"Under the floor of a closet?" Pam conjectured. "We know it hasn't been there long since it's newer."

"How do you know that?"

"Besides within twenty years because it's a computer? Those are CDs. That's more recent than floppies."

"Okay, but if it was only games, wouldn't Bill have kept it at his house?"

Chow shrugged, and inquired, "Why do we care what Compton had on his computer? He is not involved with our current problem."

Sookie remembered that folder Bill had on her. What if he had more stuff about her, Jason and fairies on his computer? Did she want to know what else Bill was up to?

"Bill's sneaky," she admitted. "Even if he had no plan in motion to use the information, he did do research on people. Thorough research."

Snidely, Pam replied, "It's not as if he can send my parents a photo of me dressed in this indecent outfit."

"I don't know what he could have been up to, but I bet duping me wasn't the only scam he had going."

Chow said, "Without the password, I cannot look at what's on this computer. This is not a field I have studied. I can try the CDs on my computer."

"Wait, try Caroline," Sookie suggested.

"Last one," Chow said. "I got other things to do tonight than play with this."

Pam pointed at something and said, "Look under recent items."

"This one?" Chow asked.

"Yes."

"What?" Sookie asked, going around behind them to see what was going on.

There was no longer a little Confederate flag on the screen. The image was the same as that photograph Bill got of his family when he spoke about the War to the Descendants of the Glorious Dead.

On the bottom left, there was a white rectangle, with a smaller white rectangle sticking out of it, then the whole screen changed. Across the top of the screen, it said 'Vampire Database'. There was a heading of 'North America' in the middle of the screen, and under it were flags and country names. Sookie saw the pointer thing go to 'United States'.

There was a list of names in alphabetical order, but Sookie didn't get a chance to look at it closely because the screen changed again. It was a screen with the heading of 'Chow', and there was a photo and information.

Leaning forward, Sookie noticed that Bill didn't know a lot about Chow since age was listed as 'unknown', country of origin was also 'unknown', along with maker, children, and special powers. She didn't get to read the little bit of text below because the screen changed to Eric.

Sookie was leaning between Chow and Pam to read that Bill knew that Eric used the name 'Eric Northman', was in Shreveport, owned Fangtasia, sheriff of Area 5 Louisiana, and … Chow moved the cursor into the way, and pointed at Pam's name, as Eric's only child. Godric was listed as Eric's maker, and Chow moved the cursor there after hovering on Pam's long name.

Looking at Godric on the computer, Sookie saw Bill had used a photo of him that had been taken in his nest in Dallas. He was wearing a gray, v-neck sweater that showed his old necklace tattoo, and Sookie kind of remembered that chair was there. The whole house there was modern and cold.

Chow realized the connection before seeing that Bill conveniently listed 'Heimdall' as an alias for Godric. He had altered that tattoo, yet thought it was Eric hiding the young vampire from his human family and the authorities, not hiding a recognizable tattoo on an ancient vampire.

Pam slowly said, "You will not say anything."

Sookie thought she meant to Heimdall since he couldn't see the screen, but after a moment, Chow replied, "I owe fealty to Eric. Obviously, exposing this would be counter to his wishes."

"What do you mean?" Eric asked, since he could not see what they were doing either.

"Bill made a file listing everything he knows about vampires by name with photos. There is one of Chow, myself and you. Linked to your file is one of your maker, Godric. Chow now knows that Heimdall is Godric."

Heimdall was not worried about Chow, so moved onto something of greater importance, "This computer thing. Why does it exist?"

Chow held his tongue. He did not want to leap to the immediate conclusion that a vampire more than two thousand years old was really as stupid as Heimdall acted.

"What do you mean by that?" Pam asked.

"Vampires have perfect memories ... normally. What I know, I remember. I also remember what people I have met look like. This is not to aid Bill Compton's memory."

Bottom of Form


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 14**

Well, Sookie thought to herself as she watched Pam and Chow leave, things could have gone better, such as taking Eric and Heimdall with them. Now, she had to protect them because she was getting paid. What had she been thinking? She could end up beat up, in the hospital, dead, and who knows what else. Eric might forget to pay her, or claim that Pam could not make deals on his behalf. Actually, that seemed likely if Sookie tried to tell the real Eric that he owed her money for protecting them. Probably after he stopped laughing.

Heimdall was back on the floor, slumped against Eric's leg. He could think of no good reason for Compton to compile that information on individual vampires. Compton's own entry was kept modest and vague, his maker, Lorena, was not marked as deceased, and they had looked at an entry of a deceased vampire, Samson, when he suggested it. Samson had a date and place noted for his true death.

Samson wanted to go further than the rest of them with the Revelation. He wanted total disclosure, would welcome medical testing, letting humans know this was not a disease that caused severe allergies and nutritional needs, but that their hearts and lungs ceased to function, and their heads had no brain waves. They were undead.

When Samson offered to talk to reporters in secret, there were only the remains of a vampire in the New York stairwell to be found at the appointed time.

Was Compton planning something similar to Samson? Samson was centuries older, and well-known for his obstinate and argumentative ways. Many blamed it on his being Scottish, yet Heimdall knew that other vampires did not like being told 'no'.

What would humans do with this information? Would it be just a matter of curiosity, and be printed on what Sookie called trading cards? Chow thought the internet was more likely. Heimdall feared an organization like the Fellowship of the Sun could use it as a sort of Most Wanted list.

Why did Compton hide it in Sookie's house? He had to have other hiding places besides his own across the cemetery. Did he expect Sookie to do something with it? To Heimdall, she seemed unskilled with use of a laptop computer.

If that wasn't enough to ponder, Heimdall could feel Sookie was not happy regarding something. She had not been pleased earlier when he suggested she be paid, or during her negotiation. Since numbers confused him, Heimdall was not grasping how much this was, nor if it was too little, why she should want more than the witches were offering. He agreed with Pam and Chow that the reward money was a ruse. If they had wealth, why bother Eric for it? Money, figures and Sookie Stackhouse were three things Heimdall would readily admit he didn't understand. Witches, why they'd erase Eric's memory, and Bill Compton should be easier to comprehend, compared to those, yet weren't.

He needed to talk to Eric. Not the way he currently was, but when he was knowledgeable and astute. He also thought about Isabel, Stan and Dusty. They handled the more complex matters for him in Dallas.

"Something troubles you," Eric stated softly.

"More is the matter than yesterday. I admit I'm simple minded so I fear I will not do well with dealing with these problems."

"I have faith in you. What is wrong with Sookie?"

"I can never answer that, even when she tells me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I understand English, yet not what she says."

"She should not be that way with you. You are only a boy," Eric replied, referring to the way women preferred to keep themselves unpredictable to men. They wished to be a highly appreciated mystery.

"Eric, I've told you I'm not a boy."

"You're still a boy. You'll always be a boy."

Eric never said it so bluntly to him before.

"Hey, do either of you want a Tru Blood?" Sookie asked as she came in, interrupting their conversation.

"No, thank you," Heimdall said, rising. "I should check to see if anything followed them to here."

"Okay," she replied.

As soon as she agreed, Heimdall was gone.

Turning to Eric, she asked, "How are you?"

He made a very, unEriclike shrugging gesture with a limp lifting of one hand.

"I mean with being left here."

"By Pam? Or by Heimdall?"

"Uh, Heimdall'll be back," Sookie replied. "I think he's supposed to be good at not being seen 'cause he's so fast. I meant staying here while things get figured out to put you back to normal."

"I do not mind staying here since I know nothing else. I am glad they are afraid enough of me to want good care taken of me."

"What?"

"If I am not a frightening person when I am myself, then I inspire such loyalty from my vassals through my kind ways and good works?"

Sookie's laugh was all the answer Eric needed.

"Then I am frighteningly intimidating?"

"Not really," was out of Sookie's mouth before she realized that she spent more time with Eric in her dreams than in real life.

A look crossed Eric's face, and Sookie asked, "What's wrong?"

"I … It's not me. I didn't realize it was someone else at first."

"What do you mean?"

"I did not have a reason to feel sad, yet I felt it. It's the boy." It was difficult to call him by a god's name. Instinctively, Eric knew he must think highly of him to give him that name, but he could not remember now.

"Heimdall? Y'know ..." Sookie stopped, what was she supposed to tell Eric? She didn't understand his maker. "... he's not been feeling so well. That's why he came to live with you."

"Why?"

"You make him happy."

"How?"

"I'm not sure. You two are really close."

"But I have forgotten him."

"He knows and won't blame ya for bein' uh … the way you are right now."

"Why won't he? Aren't I partially to blame for my current situation?"

"How?"

"I was in the room when that witch was killed, triggering this spell."

"You didn't kill her, and I kind of think she was partially at fault for trying to blackmail vampires. Besides, Chow admitted he did it."

"He works for me."

"Vampires ain't so good at takin' orders," Sookie explained.

"He is sad. I can feel that." Eric guessed, "He must be disappointed in me."

"You don't know that. Wait, if he's your maker, how do you feel him?"

Eric looked confused, then admitted, "I don't know."

"Can I get you a Tru Blood?"

Looking indecisive, Eric asked, "Am I supposed to enjoy that?"

"No, you don't. It's what you need to keep you from getting hungry though."

"Wouldn't I prefer hunger?" Eric contemplated.

"I wouldn't. Let me get you one, Eric."

Heimdall returned as Eric was slowly nursing his Tru Blood, and making faces at the bottle.

Sookie offered, "Can I heat you up a Tru Blood?"

"No thank you," Heimdall replied, taking advantage of Eric's condition so he no longer had to drink a bottle every time Eric did.

"Everything okay out there?"

"Yes," he replied.

"So, how are you feeling?" Sookie asked, trying to figure out what made him sad, other than Eric's loss of memory.

"I am well."

"What do you think about all this?"

"I think Eric was right not to give the witches money."

That's not what Sookie expected to hear, but she agreed, giving people money because they threatened you was the wrong thing to do. "What about staying here?"

"Unless the fairies are in league with the witches, it is unlikely that anyone will look for Eric in Bon Temps, or specifically here."

"What about the posters?"

"This town is not on the primary road from Shreveport so I think that is a valid point. If the witches put them up manually, they are very thorough. Perhaps they did it magically."

"Can they?"

"I do not know much about their powers."

"That's better than Chow thinkin' he knows everything."

Heimdall's mouth downturned as he said, "He made a mistake. Chow knows it, and admitted it."

"So that's that?"

"I cannot reverse what he did."

"That's not what I mean."

Heimdall looked to Eric. Once again, he had no idea what Sookie wanted from him. If she was hinting that she wanted some injury done to Chow, he could, yet it would mean nothing. The witch was dead, and Eric would not regain his memory with that. He was opposed to the needless killing, yet Heimdall was not sheriff. The victim was not an innocent either.

If Heimdall wouldn't say what was wrong, Sookie couldn't help him or try to cheer him up. Not that that was her job anyway. He was a good person, yet also difficult to get along with.

Eric looked between both of them. He sensed there was an underlying current of frustration between them. Sookie asked questions, and Heimdall answered them. He saw no reason for her to feel what she felt, unless there was something in their past that made her dislike him. He had sensed that last night when the woman was insistent that he spend the day in her former lover's resting place.

"How old is Pam?" Eric asked, changing the subject.

"Victoria was queen a long time. Sometime during that period you turned her," Heimdall answered.

"She's English?" Sookie asked.

"Yes," Heimdall answered.

"She doesn't sound it."

"She does not dress that way any more either, yet she is what she is."

"It's easy to change your clothes."

"I remember the years of that English queen's reign. What else do I remember?" Eric wondered.

"Before that, do you remember Alexander von Humboldt? We went to a series of his talks in Paris. Lamar was so enraptured, he traveled to the New World by ship. You also wanted to go, but I refused to be on a boat that long."

"von Humboldt, I don't know," Eric replied slowly and thoughtfully.

"Who was he?" Sookie asked.

One of Heimdall's eyebrows raised slightly, and he replied, "Charles Darwin's inspiration. Among Americans, I think Thomas Jefferson claimed he was one of the most important scientists of the time."

Sookie knew Jefferson was pre-War, wrote the Declaration of Independence and had sex with his slave. "That was a long time ago. Science has come a long way since then. I mean there's Einstein, and Franklin's experiments with electricity, then Bell with the telephone and Edison."

"I believe his theories are still relevant. Everything is interrelated,"Heimdall explained. "Before him, it was sort of understood, but he was the one that put it into actual words. He also measured everything so there was proof that biology was related to the conditions of its environment."

"What are you talkin' 'bout?"

Eric answered, "I don't remember the person, but I remember the concepts. It is the reason why I cannot grow citrus fruit trees in the North. Temperature, climate, altitude, all of that has an effect on what is possible."

"No one knew you couldn't grow oranges up north?" Sookie asked in disbelief. She knew that, and didn't need to have it proved with science.

Heimdall responded, "It was known that special care needed to be taken, such as a hot house, but it wasn't until Humboldt and his travels in Latin America, that it was articulated properly that that is how nature is."

Sookie didn't think it was such a big deal. So she asked, "What does he got to do with Eric?"

"His talks regarding nature, and what he saw in the New World were compelling. To vampires, older vampires, we do not need people frequently so seeing new things, untouched wilderness can be exciting. Eric likes excitement. He also likes traveling by water. We thought if we let von Humboldt know what we were, that would ease our passage west, yet in the end, we had to glamour him to forget. Lamar was with us then, and he did travel over in the next year. We did not hear from him for a long time, yet he survived here.

"As I pondered Eric would not do as he wished because I would not travel for weeks by water, we separated, both staying in Europe, and sometime during that time, Eric made Pam."

Sookie didn't see the point about some hardly known scientist guy. He could have been someone Heimdall and Eric met, since they probably met lots of people over the years, but she had never heard of him. Heimdall didn't mention any of his inventions either. It was Americans who did all the good stuff like steam power, electricity, cotton gin, light bulbs, telephones, record players, VCRs and so on. Probably his book reading thing was invented by an American too.

"Paris is in France," Eric stated. "I think I do not like France."

"We moved so eventually we stayed in France. Around then, we were living in Orleans, which is in Loire Valley. I wanted to see the city, and Eric liked the region. It was also far enough, yet close enough, to visit vampires in Paris."

"Loire Valley is also called the Garden of France?" Eric asked.

"Yes, besides vineyards, there are orchards. We had a favorite cherry orchard where we'd go to ground when we were outside the city. There are also some impressive buildings in the region like the Chateau de Chenonceau."

"How come you've never been to Lourdes till now if you spent so much time in France?" Sookie asked.

"Orleans was liberated by Joan of Arc in 1429, so we were not timely in visiting it in the nineteenth century. Lourdes was not the Lourdes it is today until years later, after we had left France. Lourdes is also close to the Pyrenees, not near Loire Valley or Paris."

Sookie suspected she'd be more interested in what Heimdall said about France if she had been invited to go with him. Romance in Paris – romance, real romance, not the kind that Bill pretended to give. She stood and abruptly said, "I guess I'll be getting to bed. I'm working the lunch shift tomorrow so I gotta get up."

The vampires both said, "Good night."

Sookie heard them from the top of the stairs start talking to each other in another language. Even after living alone for a few weeks, she didn't mind the sound of someone else in the house. Or at least the two of them in her house. They weren't family, yet Sookie didn't think of the two of them as particularly dangerous to her. They would be more dangerous to anyone that meant her harm.

They were talking quietly enough that Sookie couldn't hear them from her bedroom. In a way that was good so she could get some sleep without straining her ears to catch a mention of her name. On the other hand, if she could hear their voices, she knew that they were still downstairs.

She imagined Eric would be full of questions. Unlike Bill, who ditched Jessica after weeks, and his own claim regarding Lorena, which might be total bullshit, Sookie felt that Godric and Eric spent a good portion of Eric's thousand years together.

Sookie must have fallen asleep, after her mind raced through all the things she needed to do tomorrow and after, because she woke to the feeling something weighty was moving on her bed. Yeah, getting next to her under the covers in the dark.

She kept her eyes closed, rather than arguing with Eric. Last night had been different. He was alone. He was scared. Tonight, he wasn't alone, and Sookie knew last night was probably the first time in hundreds of years that Eric had been uncertain of anything.

Eric bumped up against her, and Sookie couldn't ignore that. "Cold?" she murmured, wondering where Heimdall was, when he should be keeping Eric occupied.

"Uh-hum," Eric agreed softly.

Sookie waited for something more when Eric put his arm around her waist, yet nothing happened. He felt relaxed so eventually she also relaxed then fell back asleep.

Then her phone was ringing, it was morning, and Sookie was alone. She grumpily got up to get it from the charger. She better get paid. She was losing sleep. Missed work yesterday. Cutting back her hours till Eric was gone.

A local number, Sookie noticed as she hit 'talk'.

"Hello."

Without a return greeting, a man demanded, "Where's your brother?" She recognized the voice of Jason's boss, Shirley 'Catfish' Henderson.

Calmly, she replied, "How would I know?"

Jason was probably at some woman's place, and he hadn't told her whose yesterday. It was strange that Jason missed work. No matter how carried away he got, Jason never missed work with the parish unless Jason had a religious crisis or suddenly decided on another career again. Starting to take this seriously, Sookie asked, "Did you call him?"

"Yeah, I even sent Dago over to his place. The parish truck's there, he's not, and he left keys in the truck and the door open."

"That's … bad," Sookie admitted. True, it wasn't Jason's personal truck, but he took care of it. He was good about locking his truck door, even though the discarded food wrappers covered anything of importance. "Did he see anything else?"

"Nah," Catfish answered. "Think I should call the sheriff?"

Sookie gave that some brief thought. Andy. What would Andy do? Blame Jason and do nothing. He's the one who convinced her brother he was a serial murderer. "Maybe we should wait. If Jason comes in, have him call me. I guess I should be the one to call the sheriff … later today, if Jason doesn't show up somewhere." If Jason overslept, he should be up and about by noon or so, run around like crazy putting yesterday's clothes on, and get to where he needed to go.

Sookie made some coffee, hopped in the shower, and got dressed while thinking about where Jason could be. The only thing that was known was the parish truck was at Jason's house.

Her favorite theory was it was a woman. It was the most likely explanation, and totally expected. Irresponsible, but expected.

Not so nice, was the idea that Jason could have called that phone number to say he saw Eric, and ended up facing off with some witches. Jason didn't have any real information, but if he faked it, and it sounded real, they could have taken him, deciding to torture him till he talked or they realized he knew nothing.

Then there was the sneaking suspicion that Pam and Chow took Jason. She had Eric. They had Jason. If they did that, Sookie'd stake them.

She could ask Heimdall, if he was awake, and if she knew where he was hiding. They were close enough that she felt their empty voids again. Nothing in the house looked out of place though. It may have even been Chow's idea to grab Jason so Heimdall wouldn't know anything about it.

The more she thought about it, Sookie made up her mind that she should go to Shreveport. She couldn't talk to Pam or Chow till after sundown, but she could go to Fangtasia, talk to someone human, and maybe pick up in their heads if they saw Jason, or if they had anyone down in that dungeon of theirs.

Sookie drove to Jason's house first. The parish truck was there. The driver's door was closed, and Sookie suspected that Dago did it so Jason's battery didn't die. The door was unlocked, and Sookie found the keys in the ignition. She wasn't sure what that meant. Were the keys left in such an obvious spot because Jason was expected to find them there? Dago was probably in the group that thought Jason went with some woman. Sookie didn't think Jason would lose his head so easily that he'd leave the truck door open and his keys behind.

Knowing Jason had a spare key to the house hidden, she took his keys out of the truck, and took them with her into the house. She had lived here the first seven years of her life, but Gran's was the house that felt like home to her.

Nothing looked out of place to Sookie. If someone forced Jason to get into his house, they would have brought the keys, instead of leaving them in the truck. Jason moved back here from Gran's when he was twenty, and hadn't done much to change the place.

Hoping to be both pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised, Sookie glanced into Jason's bedroom. No Jason. No woman. No nothing except the unmade king-sized bed that she thought was too big for the room. Not even a pair of work boots thrown to the side or discarded underpants. Damn.

Sookie went back outside, locking the door. She walked around the house. Her parents bought this land for the pond behind the house, and Jason and Hoyt built a deck about two years ago for grilling and fishing. Jason got the pond stocked with fish so there'd always be something to catch.

Walking around, things looked okay till she noticed there was a mark in the middle of the deck. Sookie bent down then touched it. It was a paw print. A bloody paw print, and it was still barely sticky. Okay, so that meant recent. Did Jason get here late, or early this morning, or was this something that happened after Jason disappeared?

Call the sheriff? Sookie thought it wouldn't be a bad idea, even if it was Andy.

Kenya answered the phone at the sheriff's office. Sookie could hear the tone in her voice. It sounded just like the night Bill disappeared from the French restaurant on her. After mentioning that Jason was not missing because he hadn't been gone over a day, at least she admitted someone would come over later in the day to look at the bloody paw print. Fat lot of good that would be.

Since Sookie had been staring at it while on her cell phone, blood was on her mind. Blood. Blood could mean an animal. Blood could also mean vampires. Could even mean Eric and Heimdall since she had gone to sleep, but Sookie didn't think they'd come over here and do something to Jason. Eric no longer knew him, and Heimdall didn't rough people up for no reason.

Pam. Chow. Clancy. Any one of them that breezed through Fangtasia. Killing Jason wouldn't get them anything since Sookie had Eric. Just scare Jason bad. Like they did with Lafayette. Sookie's hands clenched into fists at the thought of them doing that to Jason.

Yeah, a vampire could have come here, intimidated Jason, took him, and then an animal came by later in the night or this morning and walked through it. Sookie liked that idea, because if she wanted to only think an animal, Jason could be dead and laying in the bottom of the pond here. She preferred to think vampires, cause that way he'd still be alive, and there'd be something sentient Sookie could take it out on, besides telling on them to Eric and Heimdall.

Liking that idea more and more, Sookie considered that something grabbed Jason out of his truck. An animal wouldn't drag him all the way around the house, back here to the deck. Animals, even the orneriest of gators, didn't do that. A werewolf might. A werewolf had no reason to keep Jason alive, and Heimdall hadn't been smelling them round her place so it was unlikely they followed Jason here, or randomly attacked him.

Sookie would rather start with the enemy she knew that gave Jason a chance of still being alive. And if her tomcat of a brother was being irresponsibly stupid and out of communication because of some woman, she'd kick his ass.

Not knowing when Kenya, or someone else from the Renard Parish Sheriff's office would be out to Jason's, Sookie decided to go back to one of her earlier ideas to go to Fangtasia and see if anyone was there during the day, and if they saw or heard Jason at all.

Fangtasia was depressing looking during the day, from the outside. Even more so from behind, where the employee entrance was. It was a gray steel door, marked 'Staff Only'. There were no windows, so Sookie knocked. There was no answer, but when she tried the door, it was unlocked. There was no one delivering anything, and besides Sookie's car, the other two didn't look like something a vampire would drive.

"Hello?" Sookie called, trying to feel if there was anyone about with her mind. Vampire voids would be bad, if the door was left unlocked. The door unlocked at all would be bad because someone could steal the liquor from the storeroom, or get into Eric's office, but vampires behind an unlocked door during the day would be worse.

Someone was hurting bad in here, and whoever it was moaned in response to Sookie's call. Okay, she knew it wasn't a vampire because she felt they were hurt. _She_ was hurt. That made up Sookie's mind that she should help, rather than calling 9-1-1 on her cell phone and sitting safe in her car.

There was a woman lying on the floor of the storeroom. She was wearing the typical Fangtasia waitress outfit of a trailing black dress. Her stiletto heels, still on her feet, were on each side of her waist. She was conscious, and Sookie bent closer before she realized the mark on her neck was painted on, not an actual vampire bite.

She rolled her eyes up to look at Sookie. Sookie realized her name, and asked, "Belinda, are they still here? Who did this to you?"

Even though Sookie didn't read any humans or vampires around, or even the reddish, hard to read thoughts of werewolves, she felt it wise to ask if they were still around.

"Oh, thank God. Tell master Eric we tried to fight them off."

"Who?"

"The witches. They got in here after mistress Pam and master Chow left."

"What they want?" Sookie asked.

"They wanted to know where we're hiding master Eric. They …" Belinda stopped to groan in pain, before continuing, "my legs ... they seemed sure they did something to him, and that we had to hide him."

"But you don't know anything," Sookie said, pretty sure Pam and Chow wouldn't go blabbing.

"I would never betray our master."

"Was anyone else here but you?"

"Ginger."

Sookie paused, she knew Ginger wasn't smart, but she did have thoughts. Besides Belinda's pain regarding something the witches did to the muscles in her legs, Sookie didn't hear anyone.

"I'm gonna call 9-1-1," she told Belinda and went into Eric's office. The door was unlocked, and he was going to have a shit fit because there was a red pentagram spray painted large as life on the wall.

Going back to Belinda, Sookie let her know, "An ambulance is on the way." After taking another long moment to try to 'hear' Ginger, she asked, "Where's Ginger?"

"Bathroom," Belinda grunted in response.

Sookie went over to the employee bathroom, and found Ginger. Her legs were also bent back, but there was blood on her temple and in her light-colored hair. From the way her eyes stared, Sookie knew she was dead.

Sookie returned with one last question for Belinda, "Uh, is there anyone else in the building? My brother, Jason, kind of looks a little like me, perhaps?"

"No, we were closed."

"Not even down in the basement?"

"We don't keep anything down there." After another long, drawn out groan, she added, "Master Eric will kill them when he returns."

"Who?"

"The witches. Hallow."

To cheer her, Sookie agreed, "Sure he will."

Belinda really didn't know anything about Jason, or any other person or people being kept in the basement. Sookie ran through the bar, opened the basement door, and hurried down the stairs. There was no one and no bodies. Okay, no Jason here. Damn. Sookie had to get out of here before she was kept here for questioning. If these witches found out she found Belinda and Ginger, they might think she knew something about Eric next.

Sookie drove away from the strip mall as cop cars and an ambulance arrived. She didn't know what to do. She had to find Jason, and besides having the wherewithal to fuck with Eric, witches would kill people and didn't mind doing it painfully.

Maybe Jason was okay. She pulled over and called Jason's boss, then the sheriff's department. Jason hadn't shown up at work, but while the phone was ringing for the police, Sookie was hopeful. Maybe Kenya did something, or Andy seemed oddly friendly with Jason for a while. The result was nothing, but Andy admitted he had gone to Jason's house, but he didn't seem too worried about truck doors being left open, keys in the ignition, or a bloody paw print. Sookie wished she was talking to him in person to get an idea of what he was thinking.

Okay, she needed … in Shreveport … Pam and Chow were not available during the day, if Sookie even knew where to find them. Someone not entirely human … Alcide's business card was in her wallet … offices in Jackson and Shreveport. Call Alcide? Sookie momentarily wondered, before trying his number. Even if he couldn't care less about Eric, these witches were trouble for everyone.

Finally, something was going Sookie's way. Alcide was in his Shreveport office and gave her directions after teasing her about being in some sort of trouble again.

Herveaux and Son was a separate, one-story brick building with its own parking lot. Sookie parked her yellow Honda, a bit nervous about seeing Alcide. They hadn't seen each other, or spoken, and he knew as soon as she called that Sookie must be in some kind of trouble. She should have called him sooner, just to talk, see how he was, and stuff. Sookie was interested in Alcide. Perhaps it was all the vampire blood that kept distracting her.

Alcide would be perfect. He was warm-blooded. Being a werewolf, Sookie wouldn't know what was on his mind most of the time, if he didn't say anything. However, she could tell when he was happy to see her, like now, when he greeted her with a warm hug before inviting her into his office.

Unlike Sam's office at Merlotte's, Alcide was full of paper, a few hard hats, rolled up plans, maps on the walls, stacks of forms along a cabinet behind his desk, a computer, a calculator with a ribbon of paper hanging out with numbers on it, even a fax machine actively spitting out sheets of paper.

It's not that Sookie had no concept of work, since she worked hard herself, but the realization that Alcide was probably quite successful and busy, when he wasn't running afoul of vampires and helping a damsel in distress.

The warmth she got from the hug faded, and she admitted, "Maybe I shouldn't have called. You look kind of busy ..."

"What? You're the best thing that's happened to me all day. I've been meaning to call you 'cause I felt so bad about dropping off your stuff after the hospital and all, and wanted to talk to you face-to-face, but put off going to Bon Temps."

His words rekindled that flame in her, but then she felt Debbie Pelt's name on his mind. His skanky, ex-fiancee that tried to kill Sookie.

Trying to remain appearing calm, while thoughts raced around her head that Alcide may have gotten back with Debbie ate away at her, Sookie politely replied, "Yes?"

"I owe you a huge apology," he said.

Sookie was surprised by that. Alcide had been a huge help as far as she was concerned. That's why she called him today.

"I should'a kept you out of the back of my truck," he admitted.

"You warned me, but I wouldn't listen."

"I'm also bigger and stronger than you so the not listening part was not an obstacle."

"Hardly. It's not your fault. I wasn't thinking with my head, but with my heart."

"You forgave him."

There was another stray thought about Debbie lurking in his head. Sookie bravely answered, "For that, I did, but then I found out Bill did a whole bunch of other shit behind my back. There's only so much of him wiping his feet on my door mat back that I could take."

"Oh," Alcide slipped, while nodding his head in understanding.

Sookie couldn't tell if that meant he was surprised. Really, how much of Bill's lying was she supposed to put up with? Their whole first meeting was arranged by Bill. He set her up. The Rattrays may not have even been drainers to start with. Bill could have glamoured them, gave them the equipment to set up their impromptu session in the parking lot, because once Sookie thought about it, chances were real slim that they just carried needles, tubes and blood bags around on the off chance they'd run into a vampire at Merlotte's. Obviously getting rid of the Rattrays didn't get rid of V in Bon Temps because even Jason could still get some after Bill murdered them.

"Uh, listen, your office in the middle of the day ain't exactly the right place to talk about what I need to tell you about why I called you."

It sounded lame, but Sookie had to get a hold of herself. Yeah, she could think about Alcide, and his warm, big, muscular body, but until she knew he was over Debbie, she wasn't going down that road again. Since Bill had been such a big liar, she didn't know if Bill saying he despised Lorena was even a smidgen true. Wait, she was done wasting time thinking about Bill. Like Alcide, she was sorry she hadn't called him sooner to clear the air, that way she could be done talking about Bill Compton … and the horse he rode in on.

There was no 'um' out of Alcide's mouth. He easily suggested, "How about coffee? There's an Applebee's down the street."

"All right," Sookie answered, and allowed Alcide to show her out the back door to his Dodge Ram pickup truck. It was a better ride than that work truck they took to Jackson.

Since it was after lunchtime, but before the after work crowd came in, Alcide asked for a booth away from the others, slid in next to her and ordered a pot of coffee.

When the coffee arrived, he broke the silence with, "So, what's up?"

Sookie's lips twisted before she went ahead and blurted out, "There's a coven of witches in Shreveport, and they want to take over the vampires' businesses. They put a curse on Eric so he'd forget who he was. They broke into Fangtasia and did something to two human waitresses. One's goin' to the hospital, and the other's dead. And my brother's missing, leaving his truck door open and keys in the ignition."

She wasn't even to the Jason part when Alcide took his cell phone out.

He looked at his phone, then her, before letting out a deep breath, before asking, "I recall from the hospital your brother lives in the same town as you. Missing's bad, but could it be related to the witch and vampire fight that's broken out?"

"I wouldn't call it all-out fightin' yet. The thing is, Eric's hiding at my house."

"What?"

"Yeah, so that's why I'm not sure if Jason missin's part of that."

"Why is Eric at your house?" Alcide asked.

"Uh … well … I sort of found him, then the vampires thought it might be a good idea to keep him there because I don't have a lot to do with the Shreveport vampires."

"Didn't Eric send that other vampire to find you when Bill drained you?"

"Yeah, but that's … uh, can we talk about someone other than Bill? He's out of my life now. Might even be dead. And I can't concentrate on other things if I start thinking about him and what he did to me."

"How long has he been out of the picture?" Alcide asked, wondering what Sookie really meant by dead.

"Since uh … the day Russell Edgington got killed, Bill picked a fight with the vampire queen of Louisiana, and she took him with her."

"That was … wait, hasn't he been back since then?"

"Not that I know of."

"But Debbie said -"

"Debbie Pelt?" Sookie interrupted to clarify.

"Yes. She said she stopped by Merlotte's on her way here to see me, and the two of you were there together. Debbie said the two of you were still more than friendly."

Sookie asked, "You believed her?"

Alcide made a face, then said, "I stand corrected then. So … Bill's really gone?"

"Yeah."

"And you're alone in your house with Eric?"

"No, Heimdall's with us, and he keeps Eric company while I sleep."

"The errand boy who gave you his blood to save your life?"

"Eric likes him," Sookie prevaricated, "even if he doesn't remember he's Eric, or anything about the way he normally acts."

"That's a good thing," Alcide murmured, still not liking Eric. He waved for the bill and said to her, "We're going to see my packmaster."

"Is he here in Shreveport?"

"Yes. He should know about these witches, especially if they're stirring up vampires."

"You're not gonna help them are you?"

"The vampires or witches?"

"I meant the witches."

"Although Eric is aware of what we are, he's not as bad as other vampires. One thing we can always depend on with him is getting paid."

"You work for Eric?"

"He hired other companies for the Fangtasia remodel. He hasn't had any construction needs for us lately, but my father did work for him before the Revelation. We knew not to ask about steel doors and lack of windows."

"Steel door? It's more like a bank vault."

Alcide looked at her, then recalled, "When Bill was in Jackson, you stayed in his lair?"

"Not like that, and I wanted to see Heimdall. He lives with Eric when he's his normal self."

"You got to be careful. You've had his blood."

"I liked Heimdall before that. He wouldn't come with me to Jackson though."

Alcide paid and stood, wondering, "And that didn't get you thinking maybe there was a reason you shouldn't go?"

"Yeah, but I thought Bill had been kidnapped. I mean, you saw, he was being tortured when I got a hold of him."

"Sookie, he's a vampire. He got better. You almost didn't."

"I know. I know. Hey, before you go callin' me a door mat again, what … why were you listenin' to Debbie anyway? Especially anything she had to say about me. She tried to kill me. And I don't mean by accident tried … she broke into my house, and if I hadn't had vampire blood, I would'a ended up dead."

"That was Russell's doing. She's cleaned up and off V now."

Sookie's mouth dropped open but nothing came out. She knew she had presented Alcide with the addict idea, but that was before she ever saw the woman. Now Debbie was using that story?

Alcide took the chance to fill Sookie in about the retired Air Force colonel that was the local packmaster on the drive, rather than further explaining how he could stomach even listening to Debbie Pelt. Why? At least Sookie could blame her number of second chances with Bill on his blood and her eternal hope that she had met a real Southern gentleman as her dream prince, who was going to make everything better for her. Yeah, and tomorrow, she'd wake up being able to sing to animals that would help her with all her house cleaning.

This Col. Flood lived in a regular Shreveport neighborhood of almost identical ranch homes on small lots, or at least to someone like Sookie who had acres. She thought this was the same guy that they talked to in Jackson that wouldn't do anything about werewolves or Russell Edgington. Therefore, Sookie's expectation was low, and Alcide might as well admit he had a coven of new bosses.

It the same older man that they had met in Jackson. Sookie grudgingly retold what she knew, thinking it was a waste of time.

Alcide's packmaster mentioned that some werewolf woman named Adabelle didn't show up for a planning meeting last night, and he couldn't get her on the phone. At first, Sookie didn't think it could be related because any plans made with this guy during a meeting would probably never happen, but she got filled in that Adabelle was Col. Flood's disgruntled, second-in-command. Sookie thought she showed a bit of sense being dissatisfied with having to listen to a werewolf with no balls for a pack leader. Reading werewolves was tough, but Sookie was able to pick up that packmasters were male. At least Eric had the excuse that he forgot the last thousand years so his chauvinistic comments about Jason taking care of her were something Sookie could let slide.

Problem was now that this Adabelle was missing, Col. Flood was willing to do a little and suggested having the witches tracked from Fangtasia to find out where they were hiding out, and the werewolf that missed the meeting last night was a good tracker. He also wondered, in his mind, if Adabelle could have decided to throw her lot in with witches, who might not be so patriarchal.

Sookie was not sure what pushed him into a decision, Adabelle with witches, or that these witches were actually causing trouble for the vampires and already took out their local leader. Besides his fear of Pam if she became the new sheriff.

Alcide got volunteered to swing by Adabelle's on his way back to Sookie's car, while Flood called his pack on the phone.

She wasn't sure what Alcide was trying to say about her being a friend of the pack, and even less sure of Alcide's suggestion that someone in the pack must know about these witches and didn't report it. She thought the witches should stick to one set of supes at a time. Fight the vampires, then the werewolves. Not both at once, unless they were just that confident of their abilities.

Then Sookie had the irreverent thought that this Hallow might have had the Shreveport werewolf pack penciled in for January 8th, so she could tackle them after seven nights of Eric's entertaining her, and when he said 'no', she moved up her plans and struck last night.

Back in Alcide's truck, he mentioned he didn't think Adabelle would ally herself with witches. Sookie didn't think Alcide was such a good judge of character since he believed every lie out of Debbie Pelt's mouth.

Really, how thick was he? If Alcide hadn't believed Debbie, he would have called her, Sookie would have told him that she was no longer with Bill, he may have come by to visit and talk to her on his way to work in Jackson, then one thing could have led to another. Sookie was ready for one thing to lead to another in her life without vampire blood or stinky fairies involved. Of course, even then, if one thing led to another, there was still Debbie like a proverbial monkey on Alcide's back.

If Sookie had called Alcide, Heimdall wouldn't have had to waste his time sniffing around her yard because she would have found out that Debbie was busy being a lying piece of white trash, who apparently forgot all about her dead fiance, Cooter.

She felt they were heading back towards Fangtasia. Adabelle lived in a nicer part of Shreveport than Col. Flood. The houses were further apart, brick, and the one they went to had a well-maintained yard.

There was a car parked near the back door, and that door flew open before Alcide knocked. An older woman, Alcide had said she lived with her mother, asked, "Have you heard from Adabelle since last night, Alcide?"

"No, she missed a meeting."

From the woman's hard to read thoughts, Sookie guessed she was also a werewolf.

"She said she was staying at the shop late, and she was going out after."

"Was she supposed to open today?"

"We're closed today, but Adabelle goes in to catch up on the paperwork on the days we're closed."

Sensing her worry, and knowing how it felt with her own brother missing, Sookie suggested, "Do you want us to go by and see, while you wait here?"

Alcide drove the two of them to Verena Rose's Bridal and Formal Shop. Sookie was aware of its reputation, even in Bon Temps, but had never suspected werewolves owned it. Adabelle may be nothing like Debbie Pelt, if she could even appear in such a respectable place and still have customers. Sookie would never let someone looking like Debbie Pelt advise her on the most important dress of her life.

The store was in a building that appeared to be a former house to Sookie. Someone made it stand out by having the brick painted white, dark green shutters on the windows, and black scroll work iron railings. It looked nice with the huge, display window in front with one of those fancy bride's gowns with the long, embroidered trains, with the mannequin holding a beautiful bouquet. Sookie hadn't had a reason to shop at any store like this, since she hadn't needed anything fancy for Arlene's last wedding, the only one she had been a bridesmaid for so far, but she knew there was a David's Bridal in Monroe.

Alcide pulled into the driveway for the parking lot in back, but parked in the drive, rather than going around back.

They were walking to the front of the store on the brick sidewalk, when Alcide said something rude because he was the first to notice something wrong.

The wedding gown was not as pristine as it appeared from the street. It was covered in small, dark spots.

Alcide sped up with a fervent call of "Adabelle," going to the slightly open door, with the 'Closed' sign hanging off kilter inside the door's window.

Trying to find out who was here, if anyone, Sookie didn't find any active brainwaves or the emptiness of a vampire. She didn't need Alcide to mention what he smelled, "Dead things inside and out."

After thinking she was seeing blood on the gown, which meant a violent attack and death, Sookie's eyes noticed something pale on the ground in the flowerbed. She nudged Alcide to point out the severed hand. Turning her face away, Sookie saw another hand lying on the ground.

"Wait here," Alcide said, going up the last stair and opening the door.

That was fine with Sookie. She was thinking she had already seen enough when she saw past Alcide's feet to what was on the floor inside the door.

After Alcide called Col. Flood, he called the Shreveport police, and the two of them returned to Alcide's truck.

"Witches?" Sookie asked.

"Maybe. Another werewolf could have done it, but Adabelle was a good fighter too. And the blood all over rules out a vampire."

"Last night, Pam and Chow were worked up over witches, not werewolves."

Alcide shook his head slowly as he thought aloud, "If they approached Adabelle about taking over her business, or exposing her as a werewolf, I'm not sure she wouldn't attack them right away. If she knew nothing about them, that should have put them off, but we now know these witches don't think a vampire as old as Eric is worth steering clear of, and they're willing to kill normal humans."

"If they blackmail every supernatural being in Shreveport, they're gonna be mighty unpopular."

"You don't think Eric's really behind this, do you?"

"Eric?" Sookie repeated in disbelief. "Why would Eric want to forget he's filthy rich, people kneel to him, and he's a giant jerk?"

"Not for real, I mean faking it to be alone with you."

"We're not alone, and Eric's pretty straightforward with telling me what he wants." Sookie also didn't think Eric would trick Heimdall, or that Heimdall would go along with such a plan. Besides, Ginger was dead. He would never have a reason to do that because she seemed to be incredibly easy to glamour. "He doesn't need to go through all this trouble to trick me."

"Hm," Alcide murmured in agreement. He'd rather this be a vampire than a group of witches who had the audacity to mess with both vampires and werewolves in the same city at the same time.

They had spent their time talking about witches so the questions they were asked when a detective arrived caught them both off-guard. What were they doing here on a day the store was normally closed?

Sookie got a clear idea that Alcide was surprised by that question, so she answered, "It was my idea, Detective. My grandmother, who recently passed, had advised me that when I needed a wedding gown, I should go to Verena Rose's for it. I hadn't thought to call ahead to see if they was open today."

"You and Mr. Heerveaux are going to be married?"

Damn, crossed Sookie's mind because she wasn't shopping with a girlfriend, but a big guy.

Alcide agreed, "Yes," putting his arm around Sookie. "We're heading to the altar."

She had to tone down her crazy Sookie smile to agreeable.

"So you've never met Adabelle Yancy face-to-face, Miss Stackhouse?"

Sookie got flustered, she saw something, but not the woman's face.

"My family knows the Yancys," Alcide answered. "I don't think Sookie's been here before."

"No," Sookie agreed, "I haven't. I've been a bridesmaid, but never a bride." That was out of her mouth and then sounded corny to her own ears so she added, "but I didn't get my dress here for that."

The detective asked her, "You didn't go in the shop?"

"Not after I saw uh, the hand, out there. Alcide peeked inside while I … I couldn't," Sookie said, trying to sound like a typical girl. "Then he called y'all."

Nodding, he said, "Good idea to stay outside. What was inside ain't fit to be seen. Would either of you have any idea why someone would rip up two ladies like this?"

"Two?" Alcide asked in surprise.

Sookie also repeated, "Two?"

"Yes, two."

"Who could the other be?" Alcide asked, thinking that Adabelle didn't go down without a fight. "A customer?"

"I can't discuss that since this is only the beginning of the investigation. We're going to look at the evidence, and do not want to misidentify anyone as a victim."

What Sookie got out of that was there wasn't much left of the second woman. They were hoping to find a handbag, besides DNA evidence.

"You don't have an engagement ring, Miss Stackhouse?"

"We don't plan on a long engagement," Alcide answered, while Sookie again regretted not knowing what happened to her ring from Bill. She suspected it was stolen at the hospital, and if she could prove it, then could not have to worry about paying them all that money. Now that she was going to get paid for babysitting Eric, she could pay off all her medical bills. "She'll get her diamond the day we marry."

Shaking off the black cloud of Bill Compton, Sookie playfully said, "It better be big, mister."

"You don't have anything to complain about in the size department, so don't try to back out of being my Mrs. Herveaux."

The detective jotted down their addresses, and they were allowed to go.

After they got away from the bridal shop, Alcide pulled over his truck and called Col. Flood. While he did that, Sookie called the sheriff's department again. No word on Jason, and Sookie was not sure by Andy's tone if he was even doing anything. She knew Jason was prone to trouble, but her brother had been involved with a lot lately, including having his truck stolen, so to find the door to another truck left wide open with the keys dangling in the ignition was a sure sign of foul play, at least to Sookie. She suddenly realized it could even be the Newlins and the Fellowship of the Sun. They could have sent someone to kill him and done something real bloody to make it look like a vampire, and that's what attracted animals to Jason's deck.

"I gotta get back to Bon Temps," Sookie told Alcide as he got back in the truck. "I don't think the sheriff's doing anything about my brother, and I didn't find anything here that helped."

"I am sorry about all this."

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do these things. I got you involved."

"Neither of us would be involved if we could help it, but it will get taken care of."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Can't tell ya that, but you stay in Bon Temps."

"Are you going to be in danger?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry," Alcide said as he pulled up next to her parked car. "I'll call you."

"Don't forget," Sookie warned. "If not, I'll call here and tell your dad we're engaged."

Alcide's expression was the best thing Sookie had seen all day, so far.

Author's Note: Why is CH now playing with my head with highway numbers? She references I-30 in Shreveport (p. 93) as the highway back to Bon Temps … perhaps she really meant I-20. I-30 has historical significance because much of it is the old Lincoln Highway that went from New York City to San Francisco, not by way of Louisiana.

Bottom of Form


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Author's Note: I've been trying to get this done by next Sunday, and I might. I do have about fifty pages written, and if I'm not going to post more than a chapter a day, I better get cracking here. I was holding back because there's a lot of different plot coming together, and I didn't want to forget someone, and then need to add in later 'oh, by the way …'

I also am starting to post another started TB story I was toying with since its premise will be obsolete by next week.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 15**

Sookie stopped at the sheriff's office, and was told Andy was out. There was no update on Jason.

At Super Sav-A-Lot, Sookie stopped in for a four-pack of Tru Blood, and saw a 'Have You Seen this Vampire?' poster of Eric. She pretended to ignore it.

When Sookie got home, she quickly changed into her uniform for Merlotte's. Even though it was dark early now, she needed to get to work, so she loudly called, hoping Heimdall was awake and listening, "My brother Jason's missin', so could you go over to his house and look around? I found a bloody paw print on the deck behind his house."

At work, Sookie went through the motions. At least Kenya was considering a suggestion she should make to Andy to borrow a team of tracking dogs from a neighboring parish. Andy did not come in for his usual burger and fries for Sookie to question him about how the search for Jason was going.

Unfortunately, no one thought of seeing or knowing where Jason was, just wondered who the woman he was with could be.

Her house was quiet and dark when she returned home after Merlotte's closed. The outside lights weren't on, and Sookie considered that she should have turned them on, like she normally did before leaving for work. Vampires could do that for her, but once she left, they couldn't mysteriously turn themselves on because on other nights, they didn't. No timer or motion sensors.

She went in the front door, turned on a lamp, and within moments, both vampires were with her in the living room.

"Good evening," Heimdall said, while Sookie noticed Eric examining her with his eyes. "Was your brother found?"

"No, did you see anything?"

"You did not tell me where his house was."

"Eric …" Sookie stopped speaking. Eric had been to Jason's house, but didn't remember where it was.

"Okay, out here is Hummingbird Road," Sookie restarted, giving Heimdall directions to get to Jason's. When he understood where he was going, Heimdall moved at a speed that made it look like he disappeared to her. Sookie felt better that someone didn't make any suggestions about where Jason was, who he was with, how much sex he was having, and went to look without reluctance.

"I'm gonna take a shower 'cause Heimdall don't like the smell of where I work."

"You smell like food," Eric replied.

Eric didn't say it the same way Heimdall did, but still, Sookie didn't take it as a compliment. Bill never complained. Of course, he might not have liked it, but kept his mouth shut because that was part of his job to be a lying sneaky bastard.

Sookie went upstairs and turned the water on for a hot shower. It had been a long day, starting with Catfish's phone call, and it had gotten continually worse.

Contemplating how tired she was and how dangerous these witches could be to her, Sookie didn't hear anything unusual till the shower curtain slid open, and Eric said, "I'll do that for you."

Sookie shrieked. Eric had taken off his clothes, and besides looking ready … there, and with Eric she could definitely tell, besides his fangs being out.

Paralyzed with shock, both the embarrassed kind and the horrified thought that she could jump Eric and make her dreams come true, Eric took the soap from her hands, rubbed up a lather in his, deposited the bar of soap on the niche in the wall, and started rubbing her arms, under her arms, her sides, and pretty much left Sookie quivering in anticipation because he wasn't touching her where she wanted to be touched. Needed to be touched.

"Have we ever made love?" Eric asked.

Sookie shook her head. She was beyond speech at the moment.

"Then I was a fool," Eric replied, looking at her appreciatively. "Turn around, lover."

Doing as she was asked, Sookie was not sorry. Eric's fingers felt so good on her back and shoulders.

Was she really going to do this? She shouldn't, but the reasons why seemed not to matter here and now with Eric pressing against her back while he shampooed her hair.

If Eric was himself, Sookie knew she'd have the strength to say 'no'. Now … ah, to hell with thinking. She picked up the soap, lathered her hands, and turned around to give Eric some attention. Unlike him, her hands went right for the prize.

Eric did get some of his body washed by Sookie, but she concentrated on one particular area. His hands weren't idle either, and his fingers got into the very places Sookie wanted them.

The water got turned off, and they toweled each other dry, while sharing deep kisses.

Eventually, Eric hoarsely suggested, "The bed."

Sookie nodded, and Eric hoisted her up to speed them on their way.

Once on the bed, Sookie pulled at the covers. Eric might not feel the cold, but eventually she would. Not now, of course, because Eric's mouth and hands were everywhere.

When she couldn't wait any longer, Sookie squirmed to get herself beneath Eric, on her back, and positioned herself so Eric would have no doubts what she wanted, besides pulling him at him by the anatomy that the rest of him would follow.

Eric didn't argue, just looked down at her, murmuring, "My lover."

Whoo boy!

Before she even realized what she had done, Eric urged her, "Don't close your eyes. Look at me, lover."

Eric's fangs were too enticing, and Sookie strained to lick them. He wasn't biting her neck, like Bill did, but pulled out and slid down her body with his mouth.

Looking up at her, he said, "Watch me."

Between his fingers, and him sinking his fangs into her thigh, that was all it took.

Not sure what exactly happened immediately after that, Sookie had no problem with Eric kissing her on the mouth again, and resuming their earlier sexual position. She came a second time, and Eric joined her, calling something that probably wasn't English. She wasn't sure since she felt like she was having an out of body experience herself.

She stroked his hair, pushing a long bit behind his ear.

He rolled over onto his back, and pulled her on top of him. Eric mentioned, "If I had known you were this gorgeous with your clothes off, I would have tried to do this sooner."

"You did try this sooner, about twenty times."

"Then I have good taste." Eric felt a sharp pain in his chest, yet almost immediately identified it as coming from the boy. Emotion, not physical injury. He covered his momentarily lapse by asking, "Tell me about us. How long have I known you?"

Sookie saw Eric painfully try to remember their past, before he was forced to ask. She got under the covers, and said, "Well, I met you earlier this year. At your club, Fangtasia. You sit on a throne and look all broody like a vampire should to entertain people. Oh, your bar got attacked last night or this morning … I was so worried about my brother, I forgot. I called an ambulance for Belinda, but Ginger was already dead."

Eric had no idea who Belinda and Ginger were. If Ginger was important, he was sure Sookie would have said something sooner. He supposed she was not, since Pam was the one Sookie called when she first found him. Heimdall had not mentioned Ginger or Belinda either.

"I am interested in what occurred today, yet could you give me some background first?" Perhaps Ginger's and Belinda's names would be put in perspective during her tale. "I find myself mightily curious."

Sookie was pleased that Eric was interested in hearing about her day. When he was himself, he came first. "Well, you're the vampire sheriff of Area Five, which I think's the whole northern part of Louisiana ..." Sookie considered that perhaps Heimdall had mentioned this to him, though they had been around each other so long, that Heimdall might only be in his first century of recaps, "... and you are usually at your vampire bar at night, so other vampires can find you. You use your phone a lot too, to text them."

Eric's fingers were tracing paths around her nipples.

"I met you when my brother, the same one's that's missing now, was accused of killing women that were seeing vampires. I went to your bar, with Bill at the time, because that's where they had gone to meet vampires."

"Bill, your former lover?"

"Yes … where was I? So that's the first time I met you."

Eric nodded. Sookie felt she could continue with her story, or pay attention to what Eric was doing, but not both. Eric was pretty much more interesting now that he was using his mouth too. There was sucking, biting, and then there was more sex, which Sookie truly enjoyed till she was literally exhausted.

Before she drifted off to sleep, Sookie felt she should say something nice since Eric had been very complimentary with his words during their lovemaking. She meant what she murmured into his neck, "You are so beautiful."

Eric's head twisted so he could look at her, and he asked, "What?"

"You told me what you liked about me," Sookie replied, "and I thought I should say something back."

"What do you like best about me?"

"Your butt."

Since that was a body part Eric could not see for himself, or at least did not think he wasted time gazing at it while using a reflective surface, he explained, "I thought it would have been something else."

"Well, that's certainly … adequate." Even after, Sookie was still raised to be a lady so there were some words that would not tumble out of her mouth.

"Adequate?" Eric repeated.

"How about I say it's a gracious plenty?"

"A gracious plenty," Eric tried with his own lips, then judged, "I like that."

Sookie didn't know whether the sigh that escaped was her own tiredness, or an appreciation for Eric being ready again.

After Sookie fell asleep, feeling carefree for a few hours till she woke, thanks to Eric, dawn grew nearer, and Eric left her bedroom to join Heimdall downstairs.

Heimdall was seated in an armchair, looking into space till Eric entered the room. His eyes surveyed Eric, and he asked, "Is Jason Stackhouse truly missing, or was that a ruse to get me out of this house?"

"I believe Sookie. She did say her brother was missing again to me … who's Ginger?"

"Ginger is an employee of yours at Fangtasia. Although a human of simple tastes, she is fiercely loyal to you. You respect her for that."

"Sookie says she is dead, and Belinda injured."

"When?"

"Between our couplings," Eric replied.

"No, I meant when did that happen to Ginger?"

"She said Fangtasia was attacked either last night or this past morning."

After a moment, Heimdall informed him, "If you were in your right mind, you would wish to avenge Ginger due to the loyal service she has provided you. Did Sookie say if it was the witches that did this act?"

"She didn't mention who."

Heimdall was disappointed, yet could not blame Eric since he could not remember Ginger. Sookie should have told him earlier, rather than sending him to an empty house to waste his time to find nothing peculiar. There were no bloody marks anywhere that he could discern, and no one had granted him entrance to the dwelling to look inside. He heard no heartbeats within, and did not detect the odor of a body or blood. There was an old smell of fish on the wood structure behind the house, yet it was faint compared to the cleaners used to mask it. To humans, bleach would erase any trace of fish guts. There were plentiful live fish beneath the water.

"We should wait till we get further information from Pam. I trust she will take precautions to protect other humans in your employ."

Eric nodded, then asked, "Did you find something?"

"No."

"I felt you in distress earlier."

"It had nothing to do with Jason Stackhouse."

"Me?"

Heimdall shrugged, and said, "It was momentary, and beneath your concern. My disposition is not always appropriate for a vampire."

Eric was unsure if his maker's explanation was true. He did not know him. However, if he could not trust his maker, he had no one. It was lunacy not to trust the boy. He had named him after a god, and they had spent many years together. Even Sookie agreed to those facts, although the boy's presence irritated her.

After they retired for their day's rest, the sun woke Sookie who languidly stretched, trying to work out the kinks and soreness from her wonderful night. Eric was everything she expected in her dreams, and without his memory, he didn't have that extra vampire power and politic thing going on. He was perfect, except for the part that they couldn't have the children Sookie wished for. She might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

Needing another shower, Sookie found the bathroom a mess. When had the shower curtain gotten ripped down? It was from her and Eric, but she must have been so distracted by Eric's body that she hadn't noticed. Wet towels were left on the floor too. She picked everything up, and rehung the shower curtain. Some of the holes on top were ripped, but there were enough to keep it up there.

When she called after straightening the bathroom, the sheriff's department had no news about Jason.

Sookie looked in the kitchen, on the coffee table, and her bedside tables for a note from Heimdall, letting her know what he found, but didn't see anything.

She drank her coffee, daydreamed about her amnesiac vampire, which then had Sookie pondering if she only liked Eric for his body, though in this state, he did say some lovely things about her. He didn't know he was powerful and rich. All Eric knew was her and this house.

At least they weren't making a mess out of her house, except for what Eric and her did together in the bathroom.

Sookie did do some routine cleaning before heading to work. She thought she was getting a headache while vacuuming the living room, but as it turned out, all she needed to do was shield her mind. She suspected it was Heimdall again. This time she knew better, besides not knowing where he was, so she didn't accidentally touch him.

Andy did show up for his hamburger and fries tonight, with his sister, Portia. Just because she was a lawyer, and was educated didn't make her any better than Sookie. The Stackhouses had been in Bon Temps just as long as the Bellefleurs.

No one knew anything about Jason, but Sookie stopped thinking about him when a couple people came into Merlotte's. They didn't have the vampire glow to them, that she could see, but regular humans couldn't, yet something about them quieted the room.

Holly's mind was normally just a recitation of her orders, but a clear "Oh shit," was clearly voiced in Sookie's head as Holly disappeared to the back.

The tall guy was carrying under his arm a large sheaf of rolled paper, a staple gun, and wearing a masking tape roll as a bracelet. He was following a woman, who Sookie didn't think looked like anything much, brown hair, older, but there was something about her, besides neither one of them wearing a winter coat in January.

"Where's the owner?" the woman asked.

"Sam's behind the bar."

Sookie glanced. Sam had already seen them.

They went to the bar, and Sookie finished what she was doing, picking up some dirty glasses, instead of leaving them for Tommy and bussed them herself to hear what was going on.

"... put these posters up, just in case someone spots him."

Was this a witch? Would their head honcho be going door to door hanging posters? Did either of them know where Jason was? Were the two of them at the bridal shop when Adabelle was killed? Did they kill Ginger and torture Belinda?

While Sam was answering, "Of course, put one of these up on this wall," Sookie tried to figure out what they were thinking about, and the woman turned, looking around. Uh oh. How did she know Sookie was trying to read her mind? Sookie started wiping a surface and started thinking of the Dr. Pepper song - _I'm a pepper, he's a pepper, she's a pepper, we're a pepper. Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too? _When a killer, or possible killer, thought their mind was being read, it was best to be quick and look like an idiot, or at least, Sookie hoped that was the best choice. No one had ever caught her reading their mind before. Barry was sort of a simultaneous discovery.

"Sookie," Sam called.

Now what? Did they somehow make Sam call her? Plastering her vacant, waitressing smile on her face, Sookie greeted him with a "Hey."

"This is Marnie Stonebrook. They're looking for this guy," Sam said, pointing at the poster. "You know him?"

Marnie, as in Holly's incredible psychic? And now Holly was avoiding her. Know Eric? Well, lying wasn't any good so Sookie answered, "Sure, I've seen him at that vamp bar in Shreveport."

Marnie said, "He's missing, and we're offering a reward to find him."

"I see that," Sookie replied. It was clear as day on all the posters they put up. $50,000 kind of catches a person's attention. It sure got Jason's. "Why do you even think a Shreveport vampire's in Bon Temps?"

"Good question," Sam agreed. "Nothing happens in Bon Temps."

The unintroduced man replied with, "Don't you have a vampire living in Bon Temps?"

"He moved," Sookie replied. "My cousin owns the house he used to live in."

"Where did Bill Compton live?" Marnie asked.

Hm, she knew Bill's name, so Sookie said, "Cross the cemetery from my place," because if she asked anyone else, they'd be sure to tell her, and then Sookie would be caught lying. "Out off Hummingbird Road," Sookie said, with a point and the barest of directions.

"We might as well stop by, in case Eric went there, not knowing Bill Compton has moved," she looked to the guy with her, and he nodded.

Sookie hoped they had a defective GPS that gave them directions to end up sunk in some swamp in a Southern parish. Too bad they didn't have more swampland around here to increase the chance of that happening.

After they left, Sam said, "Witches are probably visiting all the vampires."

Sam knew about witches? And the witches thought Eric was hiding with another Area Five vampire, who owed Eric allegiance. Okay, they guessed Eric was being hidden.

"This is big trouble, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, big trouble."

"Do you need to leave? Holly's here, and I can wait tables, if you need to get home ..."

"Uh ..." she couldn't say she knew where Eric was. Sookie trusted Sam, but didn't trust anyone else when $50,000 was involved, " … I hope they don't mess up Hadley's house. Bill didn't fix it up much, and she's not there, but they didn't look like a couple of stable individuals. I should give it a couple minutes for them to get out the parking lot, and then park at home, and walk over."

"Do you think they have something to do with your brother missing?"

"I don't know. Let me call the sheriff office again."

Sookie got an update. Divers were going to look in Jason's pond tomorrow. She sighed. Were they thinking Jason was dead, or just covering their bases now that he hadn't turned up?

Holly came out of the kitchen, and Sookie asked, "Was that the Marnie you wanted me to see?"

"She's changed. I don't know why. They're trying to get together all the witches 'round these parts, and I don't want anything to do with that."

Lafayette leaned out and looked at Eric's poster. "Yeah, Sook, stay away from anythin' in Shreveport. None of us is gonna work there till this is sorted out."

"Really?"

"Yeah, got a call from the guy that does the checks that they're gonna be cautious since someone broke in and killed Ginger and hurt Belinda."

"Is Fangtasia still open?"

"Maybe. I didn't ask too many questions, but I wish I thought to ask about Heimdall."

"Why? He's a vampire."

"If sometin's happened to Eric, who's takin' care of him? Not that crazy bitch, Pam."

"Lafayette," Sookie said, plucking at his strong, depilatoried arm to get his attention.

"What?"

She lowered her voice, "Um … Heimdall's not that young and stupid. It's an act."

"Get the fuck out of here. I've seen Pam slap him silly."

"He lets her. He's older than Eric."

Lafayette knew Sookie was making this shit up. She didn't spend any time at Fangtasia so hadn't a clue. There was a clear hierarchy among the vampires, and Heimdall even took orders from Ginger.

"Whatever," he replied. Sookie may hate vampires now, but Heimdall had some big gaps in his survival skills. Worse was Jesus wondering if Heimdall was in hiding with Eric, and thinking they should cast a spell on him. Like having a vampire that couldn't tell his left from his right would help Eric out, _if _Jesus' spell to make him lose his memory worked. Lafayette hadn't known till after the fact, or else he would have told Jesus it was crazy. How was making Eric lose his memory going to help do anything but make him forget about Lafayette? If he was the oldest and strongest vampire around, that wasn't the one they wanted losing his mind, and going on a rampage. Fuck 'em all. He had things cooked that needed puttin' on plates.

Sookie went to get her purse, and Sam followed her. "Cher, be careful. Case you couldn't tell, they're weres."

"Who?"

"Those two that came in here. Give 'em all the room they need, before you go in to make sure everything's locked up."

"They're witches _and_ weres?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you be careful too. The Shreveport werewolves are after these witches too."

"What do they want with Eric?"

"Business, as in they want his businesses and money."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Why would I know that? I'm done with vampires."

"Good, and don't worry about them breaking anything. That's what homeowner's insurance is for."

Sookie didn't know if Hadley had any, but it wasn't worth her life to go fight off a couple werewitches. Let the Queen handle it, since she could afford to buy cars and houses and take everyone else on a trip to Paris.

"I won't go over till I see their car lights leaving."

"Good," Sam repeated. "You need me to come with you?"

"Nah, you got things here, and I'm not going over till they're gone," Sookie assured him. Besides, what if Sam could smell vampires? Or he wanted to come in to her house for a drink of water or something? Or because he thought she was now available and wanted to put a move on her? Sookie wouldn't have minded that before, but Sam had his chance, and who knows how Eric would interpret that sort of thing in his present state of mind.

Sookie didn't feel so bad leaving Sam and Holly when she noticed how much emptier it looked. Werewitches were bad for business all around, even at Merlotte's.

It didn't help that Sookie was thinking about them on her short ride home. Even normal people knew something was up with those two. They were torturers, killers, Jason was missing, they had enough power to mess with someone like Eric, and didn't mind killing a werewolf. Was it only over money?

She parked, and was on her way to the house, when she was caught by something strong.

It was Eric. Sookie could tell from the way she was spun around, lifted and kissed. She could write some pretty descriptive poetry about Eric's kisses and their heat on cold, winter nights.

"Eric, stop. We got to get inside. You could be seen."

"By who?"

"Some witches. They came into the bar, and I think they went over to Bi … Hadley's house."

"And?"

"That's on the other side of the cemetery."

"You want me to hide?"

Sookie rolled her eyes. She thought Eric understood about the hiding part. That's why he was here, instead of in Shreveport. "Yes, you gotta hide. I am being paid to keep you safe."

"Let's have a look, lover."

The quick kiss didn't prepare Sookie for the sudden burst of movement as Eric leapt into the air. He didn't fly, he had jumped, and landed without a noise, other than what Sookie made, as he carried her along, while she wondered where Heimdall was to put a stop to this. He wouldn't have told Eric to stand outside to wait for her. This was irresponsibly bad to be bounding across the cemetery towards witches who were looking for Eric.

They moved quickly, down into the cemetery, and back up towards Bill's … or Hadley's … the old Compton place, when Sookie thought she saw cars parked in the cemetery. What a rotten night to have teenagers parking there. Eric better keep them hidden so they didn't lead the witches right to innocent people.

Eric stopped at a large oak tree, with enough hanging moss to make it difficult for Sookie to see, if she was on the other side of the tree. Eric had her trapped on the far side from the house between the trunk and his body. Both equally immovable objects.

"There's no car," Sookie overheard. It sounded like the guy.

"The house is all locked up."

"Well, we can take care of that."

Sookie wanted to do something, but breaking into houses was probably the least of what these two did.

Eric squished her against the tree, while Marnie chanted something.

"I smell someone," the guy said.

Damn that greasy food at Merlotte's, Sookie swore to herself.

Marnie stopped her spell, and asked, "What? Here? Now?"

"Yeah," he answered, his voice sounding more like a growl.

"Change," she replied.

Sookie heard a sound she had heard before, and shivered at the memory. Sam was right. These were weres, and Sookie hadn't needed to hear the howl to believe it. Eric leaned his face against hers, and stroked her hair.

Wait, there was more than the howl from Bill's house. There was other noises. Like something sniffing and some yips. Were they heading right for them? Why wasn't Eric getting them out of here? Didn't he understand what was going on?

Something furry, then a cold nose, touched her hand. She gripped Eric with her other hand, but then he was gone. What the fuck?

The animal pressed against her, taking Eric's place. Unlike Eric though, this did not have the strength of an ancient vampire. Whatever it was, it licked her hand. Did werewolves do that? Enemy werewolves certainly didn't. Actually, there sounded like there was a lot of snarling and growling. Sookie knew Eric could make a lot of animal noise, but was that all him and the two werewolves? Was Heimdall here too? Would witch werewolves stay in wolf form to fight Eric?

There was a whole bunch of howling, and Sookie fell to her knees. The animal with her shifted from her weight hitting it, but did not leave her. It sounded like more than two wolves, since there was also other noises at the same time. Something yowled in pain, and there were some yips. There had to be more than two werewolves out here.

A car started up. Headlights came on, and Sookie remained huddled on the far side of the tree, away from the house. She was crouched next to a dog. Maybe it was Sam, or Dean, as she first called him, before she knew Sam could turn into a dog.

The car backed up, spraying gravel, then someone ground the gears into drive, and then hightailed it for Hummingbird Road.

Hoping that was the witches, Sookie ran to the house, pulling her keys out. She had them in her hand when Eric first grabbed her, and had stuck them back in her pocket. After opening the front door, she reached in and turned on the outside lights.

Oh, there were a lot of big wolves, and probably Sam as a dog. No vampires … at least, until Eric dropped out of nowhere in the middle of the driveway in front of the house.

Sookie's canine protector approached Eric and growled. Eric took a step towards her before seeming to notice it, and waved his hand dismissively.

"I followed them to the road," Eric said, "but then I lost them. Their lights and sound disappeared."

So despite their hop over here, Eric appeared to remember how to fly. Sookie didn't know if that was good or bad. Good, if they had to escape. Bad, if Eric was doing idiot things like coming over here and following witches around.

Sam, still as a dog, came back to Sookie and sat down, wagging his tail. She was almost certain it was Dean so petted him, and said, "Good dog."

The big wolves sniffed at Eric, circling him. Eric didn't seem to care. Sookie had been of the opinion that Eric did not like werewolves. He could have forgotten.

Okay, so now what? The werewolves, which should be the Shreveport pack, chased off two witches, or more correctly, two witch werewolves. Were all the witches werewolves, or just these two? They would be a good two to send looking for missing people. Did someone from Bon Temps call that number, and then these two came here looking for Eric, with more posters? Was it Jason? Sookie wished they hadn't gotten away so they could be questioned.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Heimdall had watched Jason's house for hours. The same truck was parked there as the previous night. There were no heartbeats in the house, other than rodents. Outside, there were new smells on the wooden dock behind the house, yet no indication of who was here, or what they did.

He returned to Sookie's house, and caught the scent of werewolves, coming from downwind.

Neither Sookie nor Eric were in the house. They were also in the same direction as the werewolves … or Merlotte's. Heimdall was reasonably sure Eric would defend Sookie against werewolves, and there appeared to be no damage to the house. Sookie's car was here, and still warm. Did they grab her, and Eric followed? She felt uninjured, and was not fearful. What were they doing?

Heimdall overcame his immediate urge and stopped to watch what was happening in front of Compton's house. He was quicker than any werewolf, and the stupid beasts seemingly had no idea he was present. Doubtless, even with observation, this situation would defy his understanding without explanation from Eric and Sookie.

Sookie spoke, "Thanks for driving them off. I know you're after them for what they did to Adabelle."

Heimdall had no idea who was driven off, or what Adabelle was. His quick mental review reminded him Compton's house now belonged to Sookie's cousin, the queen's favorite, Hadley. Her son's name was Hunter. No, he had never heard of someone named Adabelle. It was the name of a hostel in Brasov near the Black Church, yet that should be unrelated to this situation.

The wolves continued their continuous circling motion, before a couple sat down and howled. A large, black wolf approached Sookie, and she petted him, believing it to be Alcide.

Eric looked bemused until Heimdall was in front of him, and asked, "What has happened here?"

"Witches were here," Eric explained.

"How do you know that?"

"Sookie told me. They are also werewolves."

"You are not to go after any witches, Eric. You are supposed to remain hidden. Do not leave the house unless you are in immediate danger without talking to me first."

Sookie did not like the look Heimdall gave her. She didn't tell Eric to come over here. She was a helpless passenger.

Heimdall had much that he could say to Sookie. Why did she think she was invincible? Normally, Eric could handle torturing individuals to question them about her brother's whereabouts, yet obviously, Eric was out of his depth with this group of witches. He had told Sookie before that she needed to exercise caution and forethought, or she'd end up dead. Now, she was luring Eric to join her while he was mentally malleable.

"We will let Pam know that the witches have werewolves among their number. You must allow her to handle matters while you are in this condition, Eric."

Sookie crossed her arms over her chest. Pam would do a better job than Heimdall. All he talked about was hiding or running away.

Sam butted his head against Sookie's leg when he saw her obstinate stance. She said she would not come over here till the witches were gone. He came because the last time, and the time before that, and maybe there was even a time before that, Sookie said one thing, and did something else. Usually the stupidest course of action to put herself in harm's way. He saw Eric holding her against that tree. What was she going to do to werewolf witches? Use harsh language and call 9-1-1?

Since Sookie was exposing Eric and his location to werewolves, Heimdall suggested aloud to them all, "Perhaps we could meet, and discuss our common problem? I can contact the Shreveport vampires." Although simplistically, it was easy to say the enemy of their enemy was their friend, that was not the case with vampires and werewolves in most circumstances. These witches may have done enough to unite them temporarily. However, Heimdall could not be seen as taking lead while Eric was incapacitated. He was to appear as an insignificant flunky.

Sam barked, before giving Sookie a view of his bare backside, and he said, "You can meet at my place down the road, after you change." He did recall what he said to Eric regarding Maryann, and these witches could be similar. They'd pick them all off unless they united, and from what Sam heard through the two-natured community, they weren't afraid of taking on both vampires and werewolves at the same time.

Some of the werewolves sitting and yipping was taken for agreement so Heimdall called Pam on their walk back to Sookie's house. When they met with Pam, he would also recommend Eric no longer be hidden here, between Sookie's attitude towards chasing down witches with Eric, while he was absent, and over twenty individuals now knew where Eric was.

Sookie didn't care for Heimdall's silence towards her. He was the one that could command Eric to stay, not her.

"Did you find anything last night at my brother's?" she asked. "I didn't find a note from you anywhere."

Now, Heimdall glared at her. Why was she still continuing to laud her superiority that she could write? "I found nothing of interest yesterday nor tonight. You are were tasked to protect Eric, not to lure him out of the house to satisfy your whims."

"I didn't have a whim, and I didn't tell him to go over there. He took me."

"Eric," Heimdall said, turning on his child, "did you not tell me that you went over to that other house because there were witches present, and you knew that because Sookie informed you."

"Although the information came from her, it was my decision," Eric declared. He was forming a very clear idea in his head about what the problem was here. The boy did not like the lovemaking, since he could not do so, was jealous, and wanted to take it out on his lover. Eric would not allow that.

Even forgetting he was a Viking prince, Heimdall was on the verge of giving some strict orders as Eric's maker before they next parted. Eric knew little, and remembered nothing. If Sookie had Eric meet the true death, he would have to kill her. Her actions were intentional, even though she gave little thought to the damage that she could cause. Pam had to agree with him.

***** Tru Blood *** **

Sookie drove Eric and Heimdall to Merlotte's, after Eric and Heimdall had exchanged heated words in some other language. The only reassurance Sookie had was she heard Pam's name more than her own.

She could feel the collection of buzzy, red-tinged minds of weres before going in, and two vampire voids, besides Sam's that stood out since he was the only one like him here.

Inside, Sookie knew Pam, recognized that she saw the second vampire before at Fangtasia, but didn't know his name. He was introduced as Gerald.

Most people here stared at Eric. His facial expression was what Sookie would term 'clueless'.

She also thought she didn't see all the wolves at Bill's, because there was over twenty of them here. She knew Alcide and Col. Flood.

To Alcide, Sookie asked, "How come you were at Bill's at the right time?"

"Our trackers, Emilio and Sid, tracked them from Fangtasia to a building Hallow and her coven are using. Then we followed the two when they left. They have a similar smell to what we sensed over by Fangtasia and Verena Rose's."

"When they turned off I-20," Col. Flood said, "we suspected they were going to Bon Temps and called Sam, in case he needed a warning."

Sookie looked to Sam. He didn't say anything to her, about witches or werewolves.

Sam saw Sookie's look. How was he supposed to know she was hiding Eric? After her ranting about the evil of vampires and she wanted nothing to do with them, besides being bitchy whenever she was around them, what was he to think? The only one he thought she could tolerate was Jessica.

Col. Flood continued, "Sam called me back on my cell to let me know they were here, and where he thought they were headed next. Someplace isolated. We parked out cars in the cemetery, changed, and waited, but they caught scent of something themselves."

Sookie was chagrined, but then realized Col. Flood was looking at one of his pack, who was looking sheepish himself. Okay, it wasn't Eric and her that tipped off the witches, but if they had, it wouldn't have been their fault because no one told Sookie anything in advance.

Heimdall tried to ignore Sookie's anger. All of them were disappointed the witches were not caught so they could obtain answers to some of their questions. Assigning blame was not the answer, and without cooperation, things would become more difficult. Sookie's reliance on Eric's current mental state to do her bidding was risky. These witches had already proved they could harm Eric, yet she gnored that, and Eric purposely ignored his warnings.

She managed to say, "So they got away, and now know you're on to them."

"Yes," Colonel Floor agreed, "they murdered Adabelle Yancy, and want our territory, besides that of the vampires. They'll be on their guard against us now as well."

"And now we're here," Alcide said, letting his frustration show. "Why?"

"Besides needing to recover from our change before driving back to Shreveport?" Col. Flood retorted.

Used to the lighting in Merlotte's, Sookie thought he might have a point. Not all of them were as healthy looking as Alcide and the retired Air Force colonel. Maybe because it wasn't the full moon or something.

Pam was looking at Eric, who was not giving her his attention, so after exchanging a glance with Gerald, she said, "Clancy did not return to the nest last night."

"What's that mean?" Sookie asked, remembering the talkative vampire. He could have met someone, gotten caught out too close to dawn and needed to go to ground, or anything.

"We received a note," Gerald said, with a hint of an accent. Maybe British. Sookie wasn't sure. "The witches said they'd drain a vampire a day until they get Eric."

Everyone looked at Eric, who asked, "Why?"

"Maybe for your blood," Sookie suggested. "Ain't older vampire blood worth more?"

There were some replying nods.

Sookie also knew that Eric, in his right mind, insulted their leader by not accepting her offer. She may have planned to use him, or just trick him, then drain him.

"Hallow's also nuts," stated the woman who just entered. All eyes were now on her.

"Claudine, what brings you here?" Col. Flood asked.

Sookie couldn't help but blink to clear her eyes. Claudine was wearing an orange, knit dress. Very orange. With a lot of leg and really high heels.

Both Pam and Gerald leaned in her direction.

Heimdall hissed something at Eric who had taken a step in Claudine's direction.

"Who is she?" Alcide asked. It was neither vampire, werewolf, or anyone that he invited.

"I'm Claudine, the fairy," she answered brightly, and lifted her hair on one side to show off her pointed ear.

A young were declared, "You are one mouth-watering woman."

"Thanks," Claudine replied sweetly and snapped her fingers. A mist surrounded her clothes, and she then was revealed to be wearing a white, sequined evening gown.

"Now that you've shown off, Claudine, can we talk about something other than you?" Col. Flood asked.

"Of course. Ask away."

"How do you know Hallow?"

"I've been to their headquarters."

"Why would you do that?"

"They thought I was an area witch."

"We are having serious problems, Claudine," Col. Flood responded sternly. "Of the life and death sort, in case you have no recollection of the word serious."

Gerald lean towards Claudine defied gravity, as he lowly told Pam, "A fairy. I've only had one before."

"They are hard to catch," Pam said, duplicating Gerald's feat.

Eric added, "I want her."

Sookie saw Heimdall change his demeanor to match the others and stare longingly at Claudine, but his hand was on Eric's arm. Eric tested himself against that, and with witnesses, Heimdall had to allow Eric movement.

"She's not available," Sookie said. "Right, Claudine?"

"Certainly not to a vampire. My blood is intoxicating to them, and you wouldn't want to see that."

"How about we take this outside, Claudine?" Col. Flood asked, already walking towards the door. He knew Eric was an ancient vampire, and Claudine was flirting with danger by even being in the same room as him, even when he was himself.

Sookie watched Claudine's sequined ass sashay out the door after the pack leader.

If Claudine was at the witches hideout, did she see Jason? Would she tell her if she saw Jason, if she did? How did Claudine know they were all here at Merlotte's? Would Claudine help, or did she want Eric out of the way?

Col. Flood came back inside alone, and Sookie wondered if she went outside if Claudine still be there. She needed to know about Jason.

"Claudine was actually helpful," he admitted.

"Why was she in that coven's headquarters?" Alcide demanded.

"You know fairies. They flirt with danger, like to role-play, and basically get off on tricking humans. Since Claudine's what I normally consider one of the good ones, I'm not too worried about her sneaking into a witches' coven. What she did tell me is this – the coven has weres, large shifters, and they use vampire blood. Possibly addicts."

Sookie glanced to Eric. Her guess that this Hallow attempted to appeal to Eric's vanity and greed in order to drain him might be close to the truth.

A female were with a lot of piercings asked, "Are the Wiccans gonna help us?"

"They haven't said one way or the other yet," replied another were. Unlike the redhead with the metal bars in her ears and brows, he had a short, military style haircut. Sookie wondered if he was from Barksdale. "After I talked to the Colonel, I contacted a few of them. They didn't tell me anything, but before we left for Bon Temps, I noticed some of them were going out for the evening. They might be having a meeting about the situation."

Sookie thought about Holly, and contemplated she should ask her what she knows about all this.

"It'll help that this coven is V users and weres. It's not Wiccan."

"Did Claudine say anything about prisoners?" Sookie asked.

"No, I'm sorry, Miss Stackhouse. There was no one answering your brother's description, or your missing vampire," he added, turning his head to look towards Pam and Gerald.

Sam said, "That's not good news. If Hallow doesn't have Sookie's brother, where could he be?"

"Maybe Claudine wasn't shown everything. We know they took Clancy, and Claudine did not see him either.

"Back to the Wiccans, call them again tomorrow. If they're not going to help us, they can stay out of the way."

"So, we're going to war?" asked one of the weres, that had been silent till now.

The pierced redhead replied, "Why? The vamps started it."

"They killed Adabelle," Alcide reminded them, "and she had nothing to do with vampires."

The door opened, and Sookie was sorely disappointed that it was not Claudine returning. It was Debbie Pelt.

She looked around and asked, "Y'all havin' a party without me?" Approaching Alcide, she possessively said, "Hey, baby," and planted a hand on his rear.

Rather than responding, Alcide looked placidly at her.

Sookie felt that didn't mean he was happy. Actually, what would make Sookie happy would be asking Eric to take out the trash. Apparently, these other werewolves welcomed her, or at least didn't drag her outside by her teased, long skanky hair right back out the door, and scrub all that clown make-up off her face by rubbing it against the gravel. Using her reasoning, Sookie figured someone had to tell Debbie to meet them here.

Heimdall knew this was the were that was sent into Sookie's house to kill her on Russell Edgington's orders. He had not smelled her around Sookie's house since, she had not even been in the cemetery earlier to aid them at Compton's nearby, and appeared to now be a member of this pack, with whom they were trying to ally.

Eric was aligned with Sookie's mood since his fangs emerged. Heimdall took Eric's hand. It would not do for Eric to attack a were, here and now. Sookie was simply going to have to live with the disappointment of the lack of bloodshed between vampires, werewolves and fairies tonight.

Pam said, "Why don't you take Eric, Heimdall? I'll call you if there's any plan you two need to know about."

Obediently, Heimdall replied, "Yes, Pam."

Sookie followed them out. Even though Pam only dismissed the vampires, everyone here knew she was with them. Besides, looking at Debbie Pelt's smarmy face was nauseating. How could Alcide get back together with her, and then still be with her tonight? She was a lying piece of trash. Sookie already told Alcide she wasn't back with Bill.

From the shadows, Chow stepped out and nodded in their direction as they headed for Sookie's car.

Sookie wished she had some kind of heat vision so she could tell what car drove in here last so she could key it as she walked by.

In the car, it was only a short ride, but Sookie got to thinking. No one had found Jason, and the witches were able to disappear on Eric earlier when he tried to follow him. That's why Heimdall couldn't find anything over at Jason's. They covered it up.

Maybe Claudine could find something if the witches' spells didn't work on her. Wait, the werewolves knew about fairies, and Col. Flood didn't sound very nice. "How do werewolves know about fairies?"

"Fairies have been here all along. They are supernaturals like vampires and werewolves," Heimdall answered from the back seat.

"But why did that pack master act like it wasn't a surprise that Claudine could infiltrate the witches? Are they more powerful than vampires?"

"Their powers are different than ours. Witches would know more about vampires now because of the Revelation. The fairy presence has waned over the years, so it's more likely to meet vampires."

"Why would Claudine go to their headquarters? Do you think she was gonna join them?"

"No, fairies don't work well with others. They do things for their own amusement."

"Oh, and vampires don't?"

"We all have our faults."

Sookie knew that for certain. Heimdall was a pain in the ass, and Eric was a big jerk, when he was himself.

Next to Sookie, Eric felt that his maker was referring to him. Heimdall was displeased.

Heimdall was convinced Sookie had undefinable powers. She had been able to convince him not to meet the sun, when Eric could not. At the time, he thought it was an intrinsic goodness in her. She wanted to help everyone, and could not bear to see anyone suffer.

Why was he tricked by that? Was that why he felt so negatively about her now? Everyone lied. True, she was not vampire, yet she was part fairy. He hadn't known it at the time, but he understood now. It explained much about her behavior. Fairies were terrible creatures.

Eric stayed with Sookie after they entered the house. He rubbed her shoulders from behind after removing her winter coat. She may blame him for taking her over to the other house to look at the witches. Hiding did not feel right to him. What kind of person was he if he preferred to hide?

Sookie turned around to look at him.

"You are beautiful," Eric said, looking down into her eyes.

She looked away. Maybe this had been a bad idea.

"You are smart. You are loyal," he continued, listing her strengths.

"Stop," Sookie said softly.

"You love adventure and fun."

"Cut it out."

"You are responsible and hardworking. You have the most beautiful breasts I've ever seen."

Sookie put her hand on his mouth.

Eric added through that, "You are also creative," and kissed her palm, then her fingers, then showed Sookie his own creativity for the next hour or two, before Sookie was simply too exhausted to go on. Unlike him, she was merely human.

"Look, Eric, I think you got a thing for me because I'm helping you."

"Yes, you took me off the road, and are keeping me safe. I believe you'd fight for me. I am quite lucky to have you. When this witch is defeated, I shall keep you by my side. Everything I have I shall share with you. All who owe me fealty shall honor you."

Sookie was stuck. She couldn't tell Eric that he was a huge liar because he wouldn't remember being a huge liar. And if she did get kept by his side, everyone would think she was screwing Eric for his money, besides him being great in bed, which probably most of the female population of the Shreveport area already knew.

Bottom of Form


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 16**

The next morning, Sookie woke to someone at her front door. What the … okay, 10 am was not an unreasonable time for someone to stop by, and someone trying to get to Eric could just break into the house. Darn, she forgot to ask him where he was during the day, so she could mislead anyone that got in that tried to find him.

It was only Andy, and Catfish was with him. Sookie let them in, asking, "You want some coffee?"

She had to put a pot on for herself anyway.

"No, thank you," Andy said, and Sookie could tell he was thinking her coffee was not good enough to drink. It dissolved corrosion.

Nice, Sookie thought to herself.

"Excuse me for a minute," she said. Sookie was going to make herself some lousy coffee. They'd just have to wait.

Sookie also took the time to wash her face and brush her teeth while it brewed. Maybe it was to avoid any unpleasant news about Jason. That's why she didn't try to read Andy's mind any further. If the witches had Jason, there'd be no news, unless they dumped his body somewhere. They could even be using Jason to feed Clancy, and whatever other vampires they caught. Jason might not have even called that number about Eric, but could have even dated one of them witches, and that's what got him involved in this whole mess.

With her cup of coffee, Sookie reentered the living room, face clean, and ready to hear it.

"The blood out back was some kind of feline blood, the lab said," Andy started.

"A cat?"

Uh oh, Sookie's question got a clear image from both of them. Panther.

"Bigger, and we cleaned up the print after taking photos. I don't want the woods full of idiots."

Okay, there were a lot of avid hunters in the area, and panthers were not seen around here in a long time. It could also be what Col. Flood called a larger shifter. To werewolves, only werewolves were called weres. Everything else was a shifter, even if they weren't like Sam. The witches could have some kind of werepanther, or even weretiger or werelion, and Andy was filling in the likeliest feline thing with that sized paw print, after hopefully calling Purchase Gardens and anywhere else that might have a big cat in captivity.

Even though Sookie could figure it out for herself, she thought it best to hear it from them, so said, "What do you think?"

"Well, maybe Jason saw it, when he came home that night," Andy suggested. "He got excited, ran into the house to get his rifle, and tried to track it."

"Jason left his keys in the truck," Sookie reminded him. He could use his spare, but the inconvenience might have him rethinking how much he wasn't thinking. "And aren't panthers endangered?"

"Why would Jason think of that first?" Andy asked. Jason hunted and fished like everyone else around here. Quotas, proper licenses, and overhunting were the business of nosy people with nothing better to do. Andy saw his fair share of 'run over' gators, when it was not thirty days following the first Wednesday of September, though he'd cite anyone he caught hunting over bait because they weren't real sportsmen.

"So you're thinking Jason went after and shot the panther?"

"It's a possibility."

"Then what?"

"Jason could have followed it into the woods."

"Y'think my brother's dumb enough to follow a wounded animal at night into the woods?"

Sookie could tell both of them thought Jason fully capable of that. However, Sookie knew Jason better than them, and if there was one ass Jason was going to watch out for, it was his own. Even she knew not to go tramping through all that brush at night, not knowing her quarry, or being able to track it properly.

So what they were telling her is they knew nothing. Figures. Andy had Jason pinned as a serial murderer last year.

Andy replied, "Well, that's what we got for a theory. Big paw print, feline blood, and your brother took off in a hurry."

After putting down her mug, Sookie crossed her arms over her chest. Andy wasn't even considering that Jason got taken someplace against his will.

"Yeah, well, I guess you'll let me know if you find something better than that," she muttered. Maybe if they hadn't been there first, Heimdall could have told something from the blood. Maybe he could smell the difference between a real animal and a were animal, when there was something left behind.

"I'll do that," Andy agreed, before leaving.

Catfish hung back, watching Andy get in his car, before saying, "Let's head over to Jason's."

"For what?"

"Got a search party together, and I know you'd wanna be there."

Sookie nodded, paused while she thought that was something Andy should be doing, before getting her coat, a pair of earmuffs and some work gloves. If Jason was in the woods, someone should be looking for him.

On the drive over, Catfish already called some people together, and Kevin, off-duty today, was going to coordinate the search.

There were a bunch of trucks already in Jason's driveway. The tailgate was down on one, and Maxime Fortenberry, along with some other ladies, were handing out coffee and doughnuts. They even had a fresh trash barrel with liner ready for the garbage.

Sookie didn't hear the word panther on anybody's lips, or in their minds, but the men were armed, and hoping for some hunting related to something big enough to take on Jason.

Among the crowd of about fifty people, Sam was there, along with his brother, Tommy. Sookie knew that if Jason was around, Sam might have the advantage of finding him. She didn't want to think that, but at least she'd know for sure if he was out in the woods or not.

Terry, Hoyt and Lafayette were also present. Like others, they wore bright colors to be easily identified from something else, but no one wore them with the same panache as Lafayette.

Kevin got up on another truck's bed, and laid out the way the search was to be run. Groups of five, with at least one rifleman, and at least one person that's hunted around here.

Sam came up behind Sookie while she hoped this was all for nothing. If Jason had been outside for two nights, he was as dead as he would have been if he'd been mauled by a panther. It had dropped below freezing, and if Andy's theory was correct, that Jason lost his head to chase after game, then he was probably not dressed properly for a stay outside.

He whispered, "I'll smell him if he's out there."

"Do you think he is?"

"Doubtful, but it's not a complete waste of time. Anything could have happened."

Sookie nodded. That was a practical outlook.

"Hey, we'll find Jason. Cure Eric, and then get his ass out of your house and back to Shreveport where it belongs."

Sookie maneuvered into Sam's group with the Reverend as their rifleman. She believed Rev. Fullenwilder had edged over to her to be near, in case the worst was found. If something had happened to Jason, all Sookie would have left were Hadley and Hunter.

Kevin asked them all to line up with the arms stretched out, remember who was in their group, so no one got left behind, and off they went.

As they walked along, trudging through the undergrowth, still strong without its foliage, Sookie thought about how they'd maneuver if Sam caught scent of something. They were supposed to fan out in a line, and try to keep it sort of straight.

The line got crooked soon enough. Jason didn't bother with cutting back brush, or taking out saplings. It was pretty much as God intended it away from the area immediately around the house.

Sam noticed the ladder to Jason's deer stand first, and went up it.

While Sam was climbing down, Tommy had grown bored and had went up ahead. Kevin had told them to stay with their groups, but Sookie wasn't going to yell at Sam's brother. He had a lot of bad attitude, even towards Sam.

Predictably, Tommy found something and yelled, before there was a whole bunch of noise ahead, besides Sam yelling, "God damn it," followed by a degeneration of speech, mostly consisting of more swear words.

Sookie tripped as she tried to keep up, so didn't see anything before the Reverend's rifle put an end to the hubbub.

Limping into the clearing, Sookie saw a feral pig, rather than a panther. It stank. She didn't see Tommy at all, and Sam was trying to kick leaves onto something to the side, without being obvious.

Others ran into their midst to see what the shot was. The Reverend explained, "I shot a hog."

Rather than what Sookie thought she'd hear in her mind, other hunters were envious of the Reverend.

Sam suggested, "Any animals we're hoping to find might have been scared off with that shot."

Kevin looked at Sam, with the huge pig between them, and agreed, "Yeah, I don't think Jason would have come out this far alone in the dark. If he shot something near his house, it wouldn't have been possible to follow a blood trail this far out in the dark, even if he had a flashlight." A panther and a feral hog were not good at sharing an area, in Kevin's opinion.

Kevin's sincerity touched Sookie. He wanted to find Jason, alive.

Sam walked her out to Jason's house. She had a twisted ankle so moved slow enough to ask, without anyone around, "Where's Tommy?"

"He's okay."

"Like in okay okay? Or …?"

"He's fine till I get a hold of him later."

After he drove her home, Sam came into the house with her, so she made more coffee. Sookie didn't know what Eric and Heimdall heard, or thought about Sam being in the house. They knew that Sam knew they were around somewhere.

"Have any ideas, Sam?" Sookie asked as she handed him a mug, placing the sugar bowl in the middle of the table with a spoon.

"Not until we know what the witches have. I don't know why'd they take your brother, unless they have some way of knowing about Eric, but then, why not arrange some sort of trade?"

"Right," Sookie agreed. If the witches grabbed Jason, why weren't they using him to bargain for what they wanted?

Sookie picked up her phone from the charger. She had been thrown off that morning by Andy's visit, and had left her cell phone here. Pretty stupid to traipse about in the woods without her phone.

There was a message from five in the morning, so Sookie listened to it, without waiting for Sam to leave.

It was Pam.

"Tonight we attack the witch and her coven."

Sookie's eyebrows raised. How did it go from we'll let you know, to attack tonight? What did they talk about after they left? How could Pam make that decision without talking to Heimdall? Or did she talk to Heimdall, and he didn't bother telling her?

"The Weres have convinced the local Wiccans to join us. We need you to bring Eric … and Heimdall. Eric can fight, even if he doesn't know who he is."

Had someone listened to Pam leave that message? Eric could do whatever Heimdall told him to do. He didn't need to know shit.

"By the way, we might have a way you can help us. Get here as close to dark as you can. Oh, here is 714 Parchman."

Sookie assumed Pam meant in Shreveport.

Looking at Sam, Sookie said, "They're gonna attack tonight. Did you know?"

"They kept talking after you left, and even on their way out."

"What should I do? I still don't know if they got Jason."

"You should get some rest. You're getting run ragged, up all night, then up during the day too."

That made sense, but didn't answer her question. Sam took her elbow and guided her up the stairs.

"So you think I should go?"

"No, but you'll go anyway. I wasn't invited since it's not my fight."

Sookie laid down on her bed, still fully dressed. Sam was in the room after all.

She was being paid so she had to get Eric there. Maybe. Perhaps when he woke up, he would be able to get to Shreveport, following Heimdall. If she went to Shreveport, she'd get sucked in further, get hurt, beat up, end up in the hospital, or dead. There was no doubt in any of their minds that these witches were bad. But then there was Jason. Without her there, would they treat him right, unless she made them?

When she woke, Eric was touching her. Not sensually, but poking.

"What?" she asked.

"Something's wrong."

"What?" she repeated.

"Heimdall isn't Heimdall."

"What do you mean?"

"He does not remember now. Heimdall says his name is not Heimdall, and he does not recall turning me."

"That's not good."

"He knows I am his."

"Where is he?" Sookie asked, sitting up.

Eric turned his head, then pointed, "That way."

"What is he doing?"

"I don't know."

Sookie didn't need this.

"Can you go get him? Pam wants us all in Shreveport tonight to fight the witches."

"Tonight? Why didn't you say earlier?"

"When did I get a chance to say something?"

Eric made a gesture that Sookie could not interpret, and then he was gone.

She got up and went downstairs, thinking about calling Pam to go on without them. Sookie couldn't bring two vampires that hadn't a clue.

That's when Sookie realized she must be tired. Eric came back with Heimdall. Neither was wearing clothes, both were dirty, and she hadn't noticed a naked, dirt-dusted Eric before in her bedroom. Dreaming of him consistently nude might have that effect.

"Okay, do you think the two of you can put on some clothes so I can drive us to Shreveport?"

Heimdall touched the digital display with the time on the microwave with a finger, then traced a number, before asking, "Why do I have a human?" Sookie heard his voice was higher, which either made him sound younger or feminine, depending on the person listening. He also did not use the cadence of Heimdall, nor serenity of Godric.

"Sookie's ..." Eric stopped, though Sookie's mind filled in the word 'mine'. She had certainly heard that a lot in the past year. He then stated in wonder, "She is yours."

"I know that," Heimdall replied. "Why?"

"To protect me, and I need to get you to Shreveport fast," Sookie said, covering her hurt. Yes, she was Heimdall's, but how did Eric suddenly realize it? "Pam's waiting for you."

"I know you not," Heimdall complained.

Eric was having trouble understanding if Sookie was his maker's, why he had said nothing regarding his claim to her. Sookie also remained silent, rather than warning him off.

"Well, I know you. Your name's really Godric."

"It is not."

"Well, what is it?"

"What is the purpose in protecting you?" he countered.

"Because you care about me."

"Yet I do not share my name with you," he pointed out as he edged closer.

"We're calling you Heimdall because you're in disguise. The vampires around here think you are a new vampire, as in real young. You have them all tricked, so you told me to only call you Heimdall."

Tricks. Vampires did such things, yet Heimdall didn't know how he would have changed so much in a thousand years that he would make another vampire, socialize with other vampires, and attach a human to himself. She reeked of stale food and grease. Her hair especially. She also smelled of his child and sex. This woman copulated with both him and his child? She also smelled of winter woods and a shapeshifter.

Trying to ignore Heimdall's roaming nose, Sookie explained, "Pam is Eric's vampire child. Witches cast spells on the two of you, messing with your minds, and she's gonna fight them tonight and needs your strength. You're both the strongest vampires around here. No one's even close to your age."

Flattery now? There were many vampires older than he.

Sookie had not been expecting the quick snap of fangs and getting bit on the neck. Protesting, Sookie complained, "I got Tru Blood in the refrigerator. Get off me."

Bah. This woman tasted of garlic. She had the fair hair of the North, which usually meant blood he preferred, and they were not big eaters of garlic and cabbage that he found to the East.

He released her, and studied her as she moved around this room for cooking and eating. Her face was nice enough, but she was not beautiful. Why was he protecting her if she smelled bad, and ate foods that made her blood both an exciting tingly on his tongue and sour? Was it because she was good sex?

Sookie took two Tru Bloods out of the microwave. Eric took the one she handed off in his direction, but Heimdall looked at the bottle, then Eric drinking it.

"It's blood," she said.

"I am not hungry."

"You just bit me."

"You eat garlic because I do not feed from you?"

"What? No, it's pills, like vitamins. Take this, and drink it. I've already heated it up."

Eric felt exactly as Heimdall did, as the boy took the bottle, imitated him by tilting it to his lips, then grimaced and spat out the foul liquid.

"What are you doing?" Sookie exclaimed. She had caught some of the spray on her clothes and face.

"This is not blood."

"It's synthetic."

"That means fake," Heimdall defined for her.

Sookie growled. Even without his memory, Heimdall was an asshole. And he bit her! "Just get your clothes on. We're going." Let Pam deal with this shit.

"You may bring us our clothes," Eric replied, attempting to keep the peace. Her anger at the boy was not productive. Heimdall did not know current things.

Displeased with his human's attitude, Heimdall mimicked her stance, and crossed his own arms over his chest. She was attempting to take advantage of his lack of knowledge. He was the vampire. She was human.

"I don't know where your fucking clothes are. Heimdall hid everything. You go get them, Eric," Sookie said, now waving her arm emotionally. She needed these two in Shreveport. She'd drive them wearing blankets if she had to.

"I do not know where he stored them to hide our presence in your home."

"Fuck. I don't have anything your size. Maybe some old stuff of Jason's will fit Heimdall," she said, then remembered she might have a couple things of Bill's still in her closet that she hadn't thrown out so she wouldn't have to go into the attic, where she put Jason's crap, when he didn't come and get it when Tara moved in.

Eric nodded. He did not mind nudity, yet he'd allow Sookie to obtain them garments.

Muttering to herself, Sookie stomped up the stairs to see what was left in her closet by Bill. She was right. It was only one change of clothes, and they looked like something Bill picked up in someplace like Dillard's.

She left them on the railing, and went up into the attic. It was cold up there because it was January. While Gran had Jason's strong muscles, there had been organization put into place, along with cleaning out old things of the Stackhouses that collected up here. Mostly broken things that someone probably had in mind to fix.

Jason's stuff was in a couple plastic containers, and had some Wal-Mart bags piled on top. It would have helped if a vampire followed her up here to see … actually, Eric lifted the container out of her hands, having snuck up on her without a sound.

"He's worse," she muttered, not caring if Heimdall could hear a fly rub its wings together at a hundred yards.

"Why didn't you say you were his to me?"

"It's not like that."

"Like what?"

"He doesn't want to be my boyfriend. The whole reason he said I was his was to keep fairies from carrying me off."

"That's good," Eric said agreeably. He'd hate for fairies to carry off Sookie so he'd never see her again. Actually, that happened in the past, so he never would have met her, and no one would have stopped to help him.

"Yeah, he explained that fairies trick people."

"Of course they do," Eric said.

Not sure if Eric was aware that she was related to fairies, therefore he was insulting her heritage, Sookie held up a T shirt of Jason's that might have been used to clean off the dip stick to check his motor oil level in the truck. Did she save something like this? Gran would have cut off the good bits to use as rags.

Perhaps the worst of it would stretch to fit Eric. Sookie made a pile of possibilities for them to try on. They better be vampire quick about it too.

When she handed them to Eric, he asked, "Should I bring down our bags too?"

"What? You know where they are?"

"I can see them over there."

Sookie couldn't see anything under the dark eaves, where the ceiling got so close to the floor only a squirrel could stand upright. That was an area that needed to be looked at in daylight, instead of the illumination of the two bare light bulbs attached to the central overhead beam.

"Yeah, bring those," she said, grabbing Jason's old stuff back and dropping it on the floor. She'd pick it up later, if she lived. If she didn't, who'd care about a pile of stuff too shabby even for Goodwill.

When they got down to the upstairs floor, Sookie yelled, "Come up here. You need to get cleaned up before you dress."

She turned to say something to Eric, and took a step into Heimdall.

"Watch it," she warned.

"Do you usually converse with me like this?"

It would take more time than Sookie had to explain to amnesiac Heimdall what was wrong with the real him. Actually, he might not think anything was wrong.

"I'm trying to stress we need to go. Pam wanted us in Shreveport as close to dark as possible."

"You are not issuing orders then?"

"Orders? Christ no, you two do whatever the hell you please. Listen, these witches messed with your heads. Pam ain't gonna be able to do all the fighting for you two. You're her muscle."

"She would be wise to wait for us. You are washing me?"

"Huh?"

"Your scream, was it directed at me?"

"Both of you are filthy, and I can't bring you to Pam looking like this because I was supposed to be taking care of Eric, with you, but I guess now she'll expect me to get you both there. This is difficult for me, and I don't need you giving me lip."

Heimdall looked puzzled, so Sookie clarified, "Giving me a difficult time. I need you two clean, dressed, and we'll get going."

"I feel I am missing something important. Can you explain what it is I enjoy about you?" Heimdall queried.

Sookie's momentary speechlessness was not noticeable because Eric argued, "Sookie? She is wonderful, beautiful, smart, has wonderful breasts, is brave, loyal, and hard-working. And may I point out her breasts again?" He emphasized that last bit by lifting them from behind.

"Stop that!" Sookie said, and Eric removed his hands.

If both Heimdall and Eric bit her, why wasn't her irresistible blood on the top of their list of the 'best things about Sookie'? Heimdall mentioned she tasted of garlic. Were those pills she took every morning making her taste off like sour milk? It was good they were working, and she knew Heimdall didn't feed from her so wasn't sticking around for her blood, but this was a rotten time to sort all this shit out.

Heimdall put his hand on the hem of her stretched-out, pullover sweater and lifted it.

"Hey," she protested, and felt him pull at the front of her bra.

He lifted the undergarment away from Sookie's body and looked. Heimdall did not see any superlative qualities to her breasts.

Feeling the human pushing futilely against his face with her hand, Heimdall said, "We will wash. Show me where."

"Right here," Sookie said, pointing at the bathroom door. "Eric's seen how the water works."

"You need washing too. You smell unpleasant."

"We don't got time."

"Have this Pam come here then."

"She's in the same city as the witches, we gotta go to her."

"If she is Eric's child, she does what we say, not the other way around."

"You're supposed to be pretending to be a young vampire," Sookie argued as Heimdall brought her into the bathroom with a grip on her arm.

Eric was in agreement that Sookie was not clean either, but women did not like being told that. He wanted to ask her why she smelled of a shifter too. Who had she been with today? He also thought he smelled it slightly in the kitchen and Sookie's bedroom. What happened while they rested, besides Heimdall also being attacked by the witches? Why was Heimdall's affliction different than his?

Sookie protested Heimdall lifting her sweater again. "You two are in here."

"I have never seen you disrobed?" Heimdall asked, sure this human was trying to deceive him now that his memory of her was gone.

"Of course you have."

"So have I," Eric reminded her, yet not sure what was going on. Sookie was his maker's, yet when his maker was in possession of memories of both of them, he did not mind the two of them together. When Eric had his memories, what was the relationship? Did Sookie lie to him when she said they had never had sex before? Now that he knew she belonged to another vampire that would explain why he had not had her previously.

"Let me do it," Sookie complained, as Heimdall studied the waistband of her jeans. It was uncomfortable having the front waistband of her pants grabbed with her in them.

Since he had a hard time being unobtrusive, Eric started the water, and asked, "Normally you prefer it cold, master, yet it would be uncomfortable for Sookie."

If she wasn't going outside within the hour, Sookie might agree to a cold shower if she had to take one with the two of them.

"If Sookie is in a hurry, then is she willing to wait while water is heated?" Heimdall asked.

"It's already hot," she replied.

"If this is a caldarium, why is the floor not hot, nor steam in the air?"

"What?"

"That's Latin," Eric explained, "for a hot bath."

Heimdall didn't bother to correct Eric's loose translation.

"We can't all fit in the tub. We're taking a shower." Then Sookie said, "Hot, Eric." Who knew what the two of them called a cold shower. Probably didn't even touch the hot tap at all.

Seeing Eric do something to make the water come out from another faucet overhead, Heimdall compared this to cultures he knew, and settled on the Roma taboo for bathing in standing water. Running water removed impurities. They had firm ideas about pure and impure.

Eric stepped under the water to get wet and to rinse off the soil remaining on his body and in his hair, then moved to the back of the tub to allow the others to use the water.

Sookie looked to Heimdall, and he indicated with his hand that she should go first. He wanted those terrible smells removed from her body. That had to be what was influencing him against her.

Looking askance of the other vampire, Eric soaped his hands and assisted Sookie.

She knew why Eric was not sensuously massaging her tonight, though one of his hands did touch all the important parts to get her clean. He was lingering with shampooing her hair. Was there such a thing as Viking scalp massage?

Heimdall nudged his way under the running water, once Sookie rinsed off.

Meeting her eyes, he said, "You may attend to me."

"Huh?"

"If I am the one who lost his memory, then you remember you are mine?"

"Yeah, but what's this 'attend' shit?"

"You expect me to wash myself?" he asked, more confused than before.

"You are over two thousand years old, you can wash yourself," Sookie answered, getting pushed to the back of the tub by Eric, who said, "I would be honored, master."

She was angry. Sookie was always angry at his maker, even when his maker was under a spell like his. Heimdall was not being unreasonable. If Eric had Sookie as his human, he would enjoy getting washed by her.

Sookie had one foot out of the tub when Heimdall asked, "Why is this not washing off?"

"What?" she asked.

"These marks on my tattoos."

"I don't think it's supposed to wash off. You got them changed to be in disguise."

"I am not understanding. I am vampire. My tattoos cannot be altered. And why is there odd colors in my hair that will not wash out?"

"I don't know," she said, then added, "Kill the witches, get your memory back, and then you'll have your answers."

Eric shrugged. He had tried to get the blue and purple out of Heimdall's hair with Sookie's shampoo. The tattoos had looked like that to him since he remembered seeing Heimdall a couple nights ago.

Heimdall took some hair between his fingers and pulled it straight to look at it. He didn't like it. "Cut it off," he decided.

"No," Sookie said.

"Why not?"

"Because then you'll look like you used to look, and you're not going to like that when you get your memory back."

"You have not mentioned the reason for my disguise."

"It's complicated. You're one of the oldest vampires in America, but you don't look like it. Eric has trouble with the use of V in his area, and you agreed to be bait to lure drainers out. You're real good at acting young."

"I don't understand some of what you said. What is vee and how do I bait these drainers?"

"Vampire blood. People want it, and it's illegal."

Eric understood what Sookie said the first time. Why didn't Heimdall know what V and drainers were? He knew those terms, but he didn't recall the actual problem, or asking Heimdall to help him solve it.

"Someone is after my blood?" Heimdall inquired. If he found them, he'd kill them. The blood was sacred. He felt especially strong about his own … What was that?

Sookie couldn't believe Heimdall's inability to keep his attention on what was important. He was staring at himself in the mirror now.

"What is this made of?" he asked.

"It's a mirror."

Eric's explanation was clearer, "It is glass with either silver or aluminum on the back to make it reflective."

"The image is clear," Heimdall commented.

"Everyone knows vampires can be seen in mirrors now," Sookie said.

Heimdall turned from his reflection to look at her. What was she saying? He had seen himself in mirrors before, but then they were made of beaten metal, or brown glass with a lead backing. None of them presented such a beautiful reflection. This mirror was amazing. He wasn't, because his hair was weird colors, possibly even a darker black, and his tattoos were worse than he originally thought.

They were going to drive her crazy. Sookie made sure her towel was fastened tightly before heading out the door to go to her room and dress. They had to get to Shreveport.

"Damn it," she cursed, as two vampires, naked still, were now between her and the clothes in her closet that she had been looking through. She had been thinking she needed to dress warm since vampires might have her doing stupid stuff for them tonight. "Why aren't you dressed yet?"

Eric warned, "This bossiness is getting tiresome, lover. I understand. You want to go to Shreveport. It is still early."

"There cannot be so many that I will need all night to kill them," Heimdall added.

Sookie's hands came up to wave uselessly as she almost shrieked, "Aren't you listening to me? These witches are werewolves, they're on vampire blood, and they sure as hell already messed you two up, so we don't got all night to fuck around."

"It usually takes us that long?" Heimdall asked.

"What?"

"To fuck around?"

"No, and that's not what I meant."

"Half the night?" Eric offered, raising his hands and feeling Sookie's wonderful breasts.

"Eric, Heimdall's in the room," she said, swatting at his hands.

Eric was not deterred, and said, "You are his, and I can only guess that my maker is willing to share you with me."

"Yeah, he told me that, but he doesn't know that now."

"I can hear both of you," Heimdall said. "How do we normally do this?"

"Do what?"

"Share you. I don't remember."

"Not at the same time," Sookie protested, and was not amused that Eric's anatomy was showing his interest at the possibilities.

She couldn't get away from that because Heimdall got behind her while Eric continued his frontal assault. There was no retreat because Heimdall was against her back, resting his chin on her shoulder to watch.

Sookie already knew Eric did not mind an audience, and he was not deterred when Heimdall mentioned, "You still smell odd. I hadn't noticed the soap scented with this."

"It's me. We've already discussed it when we first met," Sookie said, her voice rising as Eric wanted her attention back on him.

Heimdall nosed her neck up to her ear lobe, then licked behind it while Eric let his fingers do the walking, and oh boy, they really were made for walking. She shouldn't be allowing them to do this. They needed to get to Shreveport. Pam was waiting for … Pam could wait.

More fingers were on her now. Heimdall was running his through her hair, down her back, and massaged her rear end, before slowly tracing back up her back.

His lips touched her before Eric's. Heimdall held her hair up and kissed the back of her neck. He also licked her skin, trying to identify her odd scent.

Based only on the thoughts, or fantasies, of others, not her own experience, Sookie thought she should become concerned that two men wanted to have her at once. She could barely handle Eric.

"Both of you ain't gonna work."

"You are asking me to stop touching you, lover?" Eric asked, looking quite sad to Sookie.

That's not the one she wanted to stop. Sookie wanted Heimdall to go, but now that Eric knew she was Heimdall's, he'd back off.

"No, it's just that being with the two of you is too intense. I'm only human."

Eric didn't understand. He thought Sookie could handle intense pleasure very well.

He leaned back in and rubbed Heimdall's hair. His maker moved his face from Sookie's neck to look at him, and Eric kissed him on the lips.

Heimdall liked it, and responded with his own kisses, while Sookie was sandwiched between their hard bodies and roaming hands, wondering how the two of them could misconstrue everything she said.

As before, when there were only the two of them, Eric urged, "Bed."

They moved together, and Sookie could not get out of the tangle of strong limbs. She was getting touched, in the right ways, but her trepidation of not knowing what they were going to do, and not getting any hints from their minds was bothering her.

Eric wanted Sookie, yet deferred to Heimdall. Although not what Eric would consider grown, a vampire's urges did exist in his maker's body. He considered that he would find that a horrible way to live. It would change much if the boy enjoyed Sookie, and Sookie alone, yet Eric did not think that was the case. He would have to speak candidly to him.

Without them discussing anything, since Eric's demand of 'bed', Sookie found herself out of the pile, on her back, and getting dragged by her parted thighs towards Heimdall.

"Wait," she said.

Heimdall tilted his head to the side, to question her request. He understood they were not to spend the entire night on this because they needed to get to some port to kill witches.

"You like me to use my mouth."

That wounded Eric. Till now, he could pretend the boy and Sookie had never gotten to this point before. He didn't remember it. Heimdall had no memory of it. Yet Sookie revealed that now, rather than nights ago when he first approached her.

Heimdall allowed Sookie to demonstrate what she meant. He was not sure if he liked it at first, then accepted that it was acceptable.

Although not happy, Eric did enjoy Sookie's body.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Rather than Heimdall being grateful and willing to wear the clothes she picked out, he didn't want a shirt nor did he want his sandals.

"You wear this all the time," Sookie said again in frustration.

"I do not believe so."

"These go with your hair and new tattoos."

"Why does he need to wear such things?" Eric asked.

"Because it's expected."

"His mind is not as it was. Surely, there is some leniency for that?"

"We don't have time for this."

Eric urged, "Calm down, lover."

"I am not wearing more than the trousers," Heimdall stated. If he wore a shirt, he was sometimes mistaken for a girl. He did not like that, and this colored hair was something only a woman would appreciate. Why would a man allow this to be done to his hair?

"Fine. Let's go."

Eric picked up their bags.

"Uh …" Sookie started, then stopped. They could take them because after getting into a fight with the witches, they didn't need to come back here. They could also have Bill's computer because Sookie knew what it was like to discover someone keeping a secret file on her. Vampires may be paranoid, yet they had a point that there was no need for a vampire to keep records of other vampires, if they normally remembered everything. Bill was a deceitful person, and he didn't care who got hurt.

Heimdall looked at the yellow thing on wheels that Sookie opened. Eric placed their extra clothing into the one section, closed the door, and took a seat in a chair inside it.

"What is this?"

"A car," Sookie replied.

"What is it?" he repeated.

"It's a vehicle that goes faster than a horse," Eric answered.

"How does that happen?"

"It has a smelly fuel that it burns."

Heimdall asked, "Why?"

"Because it's my car. Now get in," Sookie said, not caring that Eric knew what a car was, but Heimdall didn't. This was ridiculous.

"No," he answered.

"How are you going to get there?"

"Does it move faster than me?"

"No."

"I can follow."

"Fine, but if you're not there, Eric and I will do it without you."

Eric glanced at Sookie. She was angry, so did not mean 'do it' to mean have sex.

Bottom of Form


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 17**

Sookie had looked up Parchman on the map before leaving home. She didn't need to get lost on top of everything else.

Like werewolves, vampires lived in residential neighborhoods. Pam's house, and remembering the complaints about Wii playing, Chow and Clancy lived here too, was an upscale ranch, on a street of similar houses with their manicured lawns.

714's porch light was on, and there was a line of little lights along the driveway, as if vampires didn't see the difference between the black top and the lawn in the dark.

Sookie pulled in and followed the driveway uphill to the back where there was a three-car garage. Alcide's truck was here, and the cars were three deep. She remembered a compact car under Col. Flood's carport, but couldn't be sure of the color of the cars here in the semi-darkness.

They were late, judging by all the cars already here, but Sookie already knew they would be. It's not like either of her vampires cared.

As Sookie turned off everything in her car, Eric leaned over, towards her. Her 'what?' was cut off with a kiss.

"We could go back," Eric suggested. "Back to your house, where we could learn each other's bodies in every way, night after night. I could love you. I could be with you forever."

Sookie was tempted, but this wasn't the real Eric.

He earnestly said, "I could work. You will not be poor, and I would help you."

"Sounds like a marriage," Sookie joked.

"Yes."

The problem with this vague marriage proposal was Sookie was sure this vampire meant it, at the moment. She never knew what Bill's plans were, or if they were ever going to Vermont. He could have planned that 'kidnapping' with Lorena.

She had to remember this Eric was not himself, out here or in there. At Merlotte's, he was quiet, except when he wanted Claudine. Heimdall could be the bigger problem. Sookie dreaded that he could be a loose cannon. Unlike Eric, he was not scared of anything since he remembered some things. With Eric, everything was unknown.

Like a bad penny, Heimdall showed up by suddenly appearing on the hood of her car with a loud thump and also rocked the whole yellow Honda.

Eric raised his eyebrows at the other vampire. His initial assessment was correct – Heimdall was a boy. Luckily for Eric, he was not a greedy boy. Once this unpleasantness with the witches was over, he would talk sense to him, and obtain Sookie as his own. Eric wanted her by his side, to both honor and take care of her. There would be no more work for her, especially at night. She would be part of his household now.

"Heimdall," Sookie said, while Eric imagined his future with Sookie, "you need to keep yourself in check, and act like a new vampire. I'll tell them you lost your memory too."

"I remember much," Heimdall contradicted, "But I know not now."

"Okay," she said, eager to get inside and have someone else take charge of them.

They went through the garage, a laundry room, and then when they got into the kitchen, Sookie yelled out, "Hello?"

"I hear people close," Eric softly said, and steered her by the elbow to the next room.

It was a huge living room, or whatever they called them in new houses, and Sookie saw it was full of people. Vampires, Pam, Chow, Gerard, and others who either Sookie may have seen once at Fangtasia or could identify as vampires by the glow of their skin. Werewolves, such as Alcide and Colonel Flood, who she could pick out as red-tinged, hard to read minds. Shit. Debbie Pelt too. Leaning on Alcide.

Why was Debbie Pelt here? Again? With Alcide? When Alcide told Debbie in that horrible brick building that he knew she wasn't a horrible person, he couldn't have meant it. Alcide had to have said that to keep Debbie from shooting them.

The humans might be the local Wiccans, who were not working with Hallow and her coven.

"We expected you sooner," Pam stated. Then pointed at two empty chairs.

Rather than blaming her vampires' randiness, Sookie explained as she sat down, "Heimdall's got something wrong with his memories now too."

Chow was quick to point out, "Why would the witches attack him?"

"I don't know," Sookie replied, but thought it was strange for Heimdall to be targeted. He wasn't Eric, and no one, for the most part, knew he was significant.

"It's not important," Pam said, hiding her concern.

Eric sat next to Sookie, but leaned into her personal space to remain close. Heimdall stood behind his chair, glaring at anyone that stared at him.

"Here's what we're going to do," Pam announced, getting everyone's attention back on her, rather than a blank-faced Eric, or an uncharacteristically aggressive-looking Heimdall.

"Thanks to the were trackers, they followed the witches from the bridal shop to where they are gathered in a warehouse. We can slowly work our way into the surrounding area. The witches' magic has kept the surrounding residents from walking the streets. Some weres are already in place. Sookie will go in first."

Wait, was there someone else named Sookie here? Oh, everyone was looking at her now, and now she had Eric holding her hand.

Alcide asked, "Why?" before something inelegant blurted out of her mouth. Though Debbie's grin, where Alcide couldn't see it, might cause her to unlash some unladylike language. She'd like Debbie up front, where she could see her, rather than Sookie having to keep an eye on her back.

"Because Sookie is human. If they have spells to detect us, Sookie will not be noticed. She can get into position, read the minds of the witches, and tell us if they know we're coming and their plans."

Was that all? Sookie sarcastically thought to herself. Cue the Mission Impossible theme.

"We stand a better chance of not being seriously injured if we surprise them." Pam then asked, "Can you count them?"

"Yes," Sookie replied. That was a hell of a lot easier than expecting her to get their 'we're under attack by vampires and weres working together plan'.

One of the women who had not been introduced, or introduced before Sookie arrived, asked, "What are you going to do once you get inside?"

"We kill them all," Pam replied matter of factly. As far as she was concerned, that had been their fate since they attempted to coerce Eric into paying them.

Seeing some of the reactions, Pam asked, "What else would we do?"

"They certainly would do their best to kill us," Chow reminded them.

True, the witches had done more than make Eric forget he was Eric, and they didn't discriminate between vampire, were or human.

"You started the meeting without me?" a drawling, familiar voice asked.

It was Bill. It was definitely a bigger kick to Sookie's stomach than Debbie Pelt's presence. He was here. Alive. He had not met the true death. He looked sick. His skin actually tinged green. Not that Sookie cared. She didn't care at all. He certainly didn't care enough to even call her on the phone all these months. 'Love you till I die the true death' my ass, Sookie thought bitterly to herself. It was another lie. Bill probably told Lorena the same thing.

However her mind detesting him as the only ex-boyfriend she ever had did not stop her heart from racing at the sight of him. The relief she felt that he was alive, nor her mind from replaying her wildest dreams and the hot memories.

Bill already knew Sookie was here because he saw her car outside. They should not be involving her in a fight with witches, but knowing Sookie, she probably insisted and kept showing up in the middle of things.

"Of course," Pam replied, sounding annoyed that a late arrival interrupted her.

Bill asked, "What is Debbie Pelt doing here?"

Okay, so Bill was asking the second biggest question in Sookie's head, well actually now about the hundredth or so because she had so many about Bill. Not that she gave a rat's ass, mind you.

Pam dismissively said, "She's Alcide's."

Sookie looked at Alcide turn red with interest.

"You object to her?" Pam asked.

"She joined in and enjoyed the torture of me at the king of Mississippi's compound, she drank my blood which I was unwilling to share with her, and she entered Sookie's house with the intent of killing her."

Sookie would have used a lot more colorful language to list Debbie's past.

Alcide stood, and looked down at Debbie. "Is this true?" he asked. Sookie hoped he meant the part about coming the kill her, since he saw Debbie being Debbie in Jackson. Sookie had also tried to tell Alcide this before.

"I had no choice," Debbie admitted softly.

"She tried quite hard to beat Sookie to death. If Sookie had not had vampire blood herself, Debbie would have succeeded," Bill said, adding fuel to the fire.

Alcide paused, looked down at his hands, then looked at Debbie and said, "I abjure you."

What the hell was that? Sookie asked herself.

"I no longer hunt with you. I no longer see you. I share flesh with you no longer."

Sookie did enjoy the look of pained anguish on Debbie's face. She had it coming, whatever this abjure thing was, and a whole lot more.

"No!" Debbie cried.

Eyes darted around, among the weres and witches. The vampires practiced being vampire cool, and Pam said, "All right then. Sookie's going in first. She'll do her best to do what she does, then call and let us know how many, how many are witches and not, and whatever else you can tell about them."

"Wait," Bill protested. Why was Sookie involved? If she was still his, he would not allow it. He needed to speak to her anyway to explain things. Now that he convinced the queen of his usefulness, with a side project he had started, and meant to present to distract her from Sookie, before realizing Sophie-Anne's interest in diluted fairy blood, they could be together, and it would not be about Sookie being part-fairy at all.

Pam continued, "Once we're in position, you can go back to where we've parked. It'll be safer there for you."

Sookie had no problem with that part of the plan. What was she supposed to do against all of this? It went back to her sensible policy of not getting hurt, beat up, crippled and killed.

"Okay, _if_ I have to do anything at all." Sookie then asked, "Wait, what about Eric?" Then added, "And Heimdall?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you kill everyone, is the curse lifted?"

"The spell must be removed," one of the humans said. Sookie guessed she might be their leader. She looked as cool as a vampire, and was an older black lady with short, almost shaved off to nothing, gray hair. "It would be best if it was removed by the person who cursed these two vampires."

"We cannot kill Hallow, if we're to remove the spell from Eric?" Pam asked, in order to understand the situation best. Hallow would die as soon as the spell was removed, but delaying her death was not satisfying.

There was a moment's pause before the woman answered, "No, that would be too dangerous. Hallow must be killed as soon as possible. We need a strong member of her coven to remove the spell. They should have cast it as a group."

Sookie did not like the element of doubt in this. If Eric was not fixed … she could live with him. No. That wasn't right. She couldn't be Mrs. Eric Northman and live on all the money he had in his big house in Shreveport.

Pam's thoughts definitely went in another direction than Sookie's as she asked, "And what will you be doing?"

Now that Sookie knew they were not present to get the spell off Eric, that was a good question.

One of the men, who had on a blue vest from some retail store, said, "We will be close and casting our own spells to confuse the others. We have some tricks of our own."

It would be good if they knew the trick to count everyone inside a building so Sookie could sit in the car for the rest of the night.

Debbie chose this moment to be a drama queen and flounce through the crowd towards the door.

"How do we know you are not about to warn the witches?" Chow asked.

Wow. Chow just got a brownie point in Sookie's book.

Debbie looked outraged, and complained, "I can't stay here."

Alcide was looking at the carpet.

Pam said, "Bill, take charge of her. If she turns on us, kill her."

Not to be outdone, Bill's fangs clicked into place, before he admitted with relish, "That sounds wonderful."

"Let's get moving," Pam said.

The witches exchanged some words, and the weres also had a moment to confer before heading out.

Pam paused at a mirror by the door to check her lipstick, where Sookie caught up to her.

"Tonight is a great night," Pam said, then turned to look at her.

"It is?"

"Yes, tomorrow we will have our sheriff back."

Sookie looked to Eric. He wasn't with the program yet, and Heimdall looked surly.

"Good. They put their stuff in my car. Can I leave it here?"

"Of course. I will take care of moving it to Eric's house."

Eric then chose that moment to tune in, and seriously said, "If I die tonight, I owe this woman money. See that she is paid."

Pam nodded solemnly, while Sookie winced at Eric's hand holding her shoulder. "I swear," she said. "Both Chow and Gerard are also aware of the financial arrangement."

"Do you know where her brother is?"

Pam looked at Eric, and said, "No, I do not. We will need to be careful in case he is a prisoner."

"How's Belinda?" Sookie asked.

Pam looked at her blankly, but Chow answered, "She is recovering. We have made sure she has flowers and candy, in addition to our group health insurance policy."

"The Nissan?" Chow asked Pam as they walked through the door.

Bill was now in front of Sookie. How expected, yet unwanted. She had things to do, besides listening to the sound of fang snapping behind her.

After giving Godric, who would always be Godric to him, a passing look of annoyance, Bill said, "Sookie, we need to talk."

"Not now, Bill."

His nose wrinkled. Sookie smelled of sex, Eric and Godric. What had they done to her?

"This is Bill, your former mate?" Eric asked.

Mate? She guessed, "Yes … sort of. We got to go."

Sookie could no longer see Eric because he put both hands on her shoulders, and stood behind her. Since he was easily a head taller than her, she supposed he was staring down Bill.

In amazement, Bill said, "You really don't remember me. I thought this had been elaborate plot of yours to get into Sookie's bed."

Oh, so that's why Bill came back from the dead? To plant his 'Bill was here' flag on her … parts? What an asshole.

"Let's get to the car," she said.

Heimdall shouldered Bill, knocking him over the porch railing, onto his ass on the frost-covered grass. That was a nice thing for him to do, as far as Sookie was concerned.

Bill stood up, after they passed. He needed to tell Sookie how he felt. There would be plenty of time after the battle, since he was now back to being her neighbor. He had traded Hadley a house of his in the French Quarter for his own. It was worth more than the Compton house in Bon Temps, although he had glamoured to push the sale of classic New Orleans house after it was restored after Hurricane Katina. Hadley definitely got the better end of the deal. He was not sure if he should tell Sookie yet that her cousin was vampire now, if she was not already informed. They had many nights ahead to discuss everything.

At her car, she told Heimdall to take their stuff into Pam's house since he was not going to ride in it, again.

It didn't help her mood that on the drive, following others, that Eric suddenly said, "This is a crappy car."

"Yes, it is," she agreed, thinking Eric was giving an honest assessment, considering he had no idea he had a Corvette in his garage.

"Are you afraid?" he asked.

"Of course."

"When we win, and I am restored, I will still see you?"

"Yes," Sookie responded quickly. She didn't need to mess with Eric's head. He would with hers when he was okay again, but right now, it would not be fair to lay out a list of conditions.

Pam was overprepared, and had issued copies of maps to each vehicle. Sookie's designated parking spot was outside a Kangaroo Express.

The map also had marks for the warehouse, and where Eric was supposed to go to meet other vampires. He walked beside her, and Sookie was glad for the company part of the way. The neighborhood was miserable. Half the houses had 'for sale' signs in front of them, and it was after dark in the winter. No one had on their Christmas lights any more, even though Gran liked to leave things going till the Feast of the Three Kings.

When they reached the point where they should part, or else Eric would be too close, he gripped her and laid a smoldering kiss on her lips.

"Till later, my lover."

Sookie didn't know if he intentionally sped away to avoid her having second thoughts or not.

Bottom of Form


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 18**

Sookie was alone on a Shreveport street corner. It was cold. It was dark. And something didn't smell right. She hoped it was a real smell, rather than some freaky fairy thing trying to signal that it was a bad idea to go anywhere near this warehouse. Her own brain could tell her that.

Her goal was to get close enough to just mosey past and count how many minds were inside. Hopefully, she'd pick up Jason, and be able to tell the vampires to get him out of there. She didn't need to be a hero. They didn't need her for anything else.

There was a weed choked parking lot with a beat up fence, and a rusted out dumpster. A good, shadowed place to hide and drop her shields to listen … it certainly was buzzing in there. Getting an impression of plans and what they were thinking was hard. Werewolves or shifters of some sort were there, besides regular humans. No one was sleeping, but how many were on _their _side, and how many were prisoners?

She edged closer, waiting for some stray thought about being held prisoner, or wishes to get away from here. Nothing like that. A lot of typical drivel from the minds she could read. Probably fifteen.

Sookie took out her cell phone, and opened it. It lit and she was about to call the number Pam gave her on the map, when she was grabbed from behind.

"Get going," someone said, poking her with something pointy. A knife?

"Where?" Sookie asked.

"Inside."

Oh shit, and she hadn't called anyone. No one would know what happened to her until they decided they were done waiting and attacked anyway.

There was a gurgle and Sookie felt whoever had been behind her was in pain … it was Holly.

"Stop," she called out, turning to see what had happened.

Heimdall had bit Holly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She thought the vampires were supposed to stay away till the signal was given, after she did this reconnaissance thing.

She was asking Heimdall, but Holly was the one that answered first, "They threatened my kids unless I helped them."

"Let her go. It's Holly."

Heimdall slurped some more blood from Holly's neck instead.

Sookie smacked his shoulder, and said, "She's my friend. You don't remember, but she works at Merlotte's with me."

His blood-smeared mouth left the waitress' neck. Heimdall said with his new accent and higher pitched voice, "We are supposed to kill all of them."

"Holly wouldn't cast a spell on you or Eric. You're good tippers."

Agreeably, since she was still helpless in the vampire's grip, Holly said, "I've helped you change your shoes, and I serve drinks at Fangtasia for master Eric." She knew they tried to cast a similar spell on Heimdall, but they were not sure if it worked. If he wanted to kill everyone, then it was an error on Hallow's and Jesus's part to target him. "If you kill them, they will no longer threaten my kids."

Holly held her breath as Heimdall's nose brushed against her cheek, neck and ear. Was he going to drain her anyway?

"Is Jason in there?" Sookie asked.

"Jason's a Wiccan?"

"No, I mean do they have him as a prisoner."

"I haven't seen him. Why would Hallow kidnap Jason?"

"You have to get out of here now," Sookie said. If Jason wasn't here, where was he? Was he really dead in the woods after tracking a wounded animal at night?

Turning minutely, since that's all she could manage, Holly asked, "Heimdall, are you going to make sure she can't hurt my kids?"

"They are after your livestock?"

"What?" Sookie asked.

"Small goats," Heimdall explained.

"My children."

Wiccans acted strangely with some animals. If she wanted to call baby goats her children, it was similar to the women with all the cats. He released her, since the innocent goats would get stolen and slaughtered without her protection.

Holly ran.

"What are you doin' here?" she asked. "Vampires were supposed to stay back till they got Pam's signal."

His fangs were still extended, but Heimdall clearly replied, "I did not agree to take orders from my child's child. You will make yourself useful and invite me in."

"Make myself … !" Sookie sputtered. "I don't gotta be here, helpin' y'all."

"You are mine to protect, so that is why I am here. You are telling me that you will not invite me into the building to eliminate the witches? Are you allied with them? Shall I hunt down the one that I allowed to go free and make her speak the words?"

"No," Sookie snarled. Holly had children, so she couldn't let Heimdall drag her back here, and maybe kill her. He was being impossible, like he always was.

"Why are you reluctant to allow me to reach the other witches?"

"I haven't talked to Pam yet."

"Will you be doing that soon? No one is holding a knife to you now, preventing that from happening."

She so wanted to slap him, but took out her cell phone instead.

Heimdall watched her light an object, make some noises, then she said to it, "Pam, there's fifteen."

"Very good, Sookie. Do they know we are here?"

"I don't think so …," she started, letting her mind wander back to them to see if there was any update. The witches were concentrating on something. All of them. "Heimdall's here, and the witches are doing something inside. I think he tipped them off."

"Any idea what?"

"No, but Heimdall wants to go inside. Should he wait?"

"If he enters, you would need to stay close to invite the rest of us in. Can he wait? We will be fast."

Actually, they were fast because something furry bumped Sookie. It could be Alcide since it was a large wolf.

"I'll tell him that," she said, turning her phone off.

Heimdall waited a moment, in case Sookie had something to add, since he could hear both sides of the conversation, and then said, "If they could harm me, they would have been wise to already do it, rather than waiting till I am outside their door."

Sookie wasn't worried about Heimdall getting hurt. He deserved a good ass kicking to put him in his place. Vampires and their high and mightiness made her angry. She hoped Bill got his ass handed to him too. Eric's could wait till he was back to being an asshole before he got his ass kicked.

Looking behind her, after getting a creepy feeling, Sookie saw Pam was there. Fangs out and everything.

"I'll kick the door open, you jump in, invite us, and then run out," she said.

Eric was also ready. What was it about their fangs? The promise of a fight got them out?

They went to a back fire door, and Pam raised her leg, cocked it, and kicked the door in after the center dented and the hinges gave way.

Sookie looked first before entering blindly. Heimdall's hand caught hers, and as soon as she said, "Come in," he yanked her outside. He disappeared as soon as he let go of her.

Looking down, Sookie saw fog was coming out of the building.

"Is that something we're doing?" she asked.

No one answered her, the vampires were already gone, and wolves were surging around her to enter.

Bill stopped and asked, "Sookie, what are you still doing here? You are to return to your car."

"I'm trying to figure out what's goin' on. The witches were doin' something."

"You are not to get further involved."

"I ain't. I'm standin' out here." She then asked Debbie Pelt, "Why aren't you changed?"

"I was abjured. I cannot hunt with Alcide's pack."

"Whatever … Hey, there might be people in there that are either prisoners, or the witches forced to help them."

"How would we know that?" Bill asked.

"I guess they'd be the ones not fighting back. Can you two help them get out?"

She saw Bill frowning at her request, and she said, "If they ain't fightin' back, why would you attack them?"

"It could be a ploy."

Sookie rolled her eyes. Of course Bill would think everyone was a liar, like he was. There were growls and screams coming from inside now. Holly and Claudine could also be mistaken about Jason, besides other innocent people being blackmailed like Holly.

"Just get out of my way, Bill," she said, going in.

He plucked at her sleeve, but she hissed, "Stop it," then coughed. What kind of help was this? The fog was something other than harmless water vapor. Their side had vampires that didn't need to breathe, but Sookie was sure werewolves did.

It was thick. She already lost Bill and Debbie. Maybe she should try to find a wall and feel her way along. People that weren't fighting should try to hide in a closet or side room, or at least she would.

Two werewolves tumbled into view, trying to get a firm grip on the other's neck. Sookie didn't know who was the good wolf and who was the bad wolf, so got out of their way. Okay, so witches were changing to fight, rather than casting spells. That was good, right?

Sookie got knocked down by something, and wondered if the air closer to the floor was better to breathe, like they learned in school with fires. Crap, she might be moving in the middle, rather than finding a wall. There were pillows on the floor, bowls, knives, and a bunch of leafy twigs.

Okay, if the pillows were this way, and the bowls were this way, and the bowls would be in front of them, Sookie thought, grabbing a knife, then this way was outside of the pillows and should lead to a wall.

There was blood on the floor too, so Sookie got back to her feet.

Sookie screamed. The poster carrying guy from Merlotte's was in front of her, and he was chanting something as he turned with a knife in his hand right towards her. Gerald knocked her down as he tackled the big witch guy. She also got sprayed with his blood as Gerald rearranged his body parts. He wouldn't be getting up from that.

Their witches were watching from a distance with one of them scrying with a bowl of water. Their counterspell to Hallow's fog was to make it rain inside.

The fog thinned, and Sookie came face-to-face with Debbie Pelt. In the excitement, she had changed partially.

She jumped back as Debbie snapped at her.

"Hey ..."

Oh, Debbie was going to get her now, while fighting was going on all around them. Shit. Sookie held the knife out in what she hoped was a defensive stance.

A big hand grabbed Debbie by the throat from behind her. It was Eric. He squeezed, but then a wave of fighting werewolves washed through, and Sookie got separated from both of them when she got knocked down. She lost the knife.

The fog was getting washed away by water falling from somewhere onto the floor. At first, she didn't see the knife. It had been knocked a few yards away so she went to get it.

There were naked people on the floor. Dead werewolves, with other werewolves from the Shreveport pack crouched next to them crying.

There was also a naked woman, smeared with blood, and Sookie thought it was the woman that brought the posters to Merlotte's. Even in human form she was strong, because a werewolf leapt at her and she threw it into the wall.

From where she was Sookie saw Pam behind her. Pam's clothes were dirty, and she didn't seem to mind getting them more messed up because she tackled the woman.

She was wet from the indoor rain, so slippery. The werewitch ripped clumps of Pam's hair out of her head.

After screaming at vampire volume, Pam pressed her downwards into the floor. Sookie thought Pam should win since she was the vampire, but one of the other guys jumped on Pam and bit her. He was human, but he drank from her, getting stronger.

Sookie looked around for Eric or Heimdall. Where'd everybody go? She ran over with her knife and held it to his throat, and demanded, "Let go of her."

He took his mouth from Pam's neck, and Sookie got a clear message … _need more V, kill her._

She held the knife firm and braced herself as he leaned to get her. The blade entered his neck.

He died quickly.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

There was no doubt in his mind. He was dying. His twisted guts outside his broken, torn body. Lafayette was lying on the floor, with a view of either his own insides, or Jesus. Jesus was dead. He had run back here, with Lafayette, to use another fire door, when a couple of werewolves caught them. Jesus' throat was torn open, he gurgled, then went still and silent.

Lafayette's leg was bit first, then once he was down and crawling, the other wolf ripped his abdomen open. Crawling was useless then. There was no hope of escape. There was no hope he'd make it out of here alive.

It was painful. It could take a long time, unless someone came in here to finish him off. Lafayette was thinking he should call out to hasten the end.

There was someone in the doorway, looking at him.

"Heimdall," he called. Lafayette knew the tattoos well. He had never seen Heimdall's fangs out before. He was also shirtless and covered in blood.

His face was frozen in a snarl, but his question was clear to Lafayette, even though he spoke with an accent and falsetto, "You know me?"

Ah, their spell had worked on the twink. They hadn't been sure because there was some sort of magical backwash that knocked them all on their asses. Lafayette hadn't wanted to cast it on this vampire, and was slightly satisfied that he wasn't as easy as Eric. Terrible things had already happened to the teen, who didn't remember anything about being human, that is seemed unfair to attack him just on Hallow's and Jesus's hunch that he may be with Eric, since he had not been seen at Fangtasia since Eric was attacked.

"Of course. You've been in my house. I guess they got you too?"

"Who?"

"The witches."

Heimdall actively sniffed. Why did this human smell of Eric's blood? Why was Eric so close, yet did nothing to help this man? Did the spell cast on him sever his connection with those he shared his blood?

He asked, "You are Eric's?"

"I work for … him." Lafayette had almost used his favorite obscenity for the Viking. With Heimdall, he needed to use honey. He added, "With you at the club. Can you help me?"

The vampire frowned and his fangs retracted. He explained, "I have not seen something this serious heal. How were you injured?"

"Werewolf."

"Eh," Heimdall uttered nonchalantly, "If you live, you will be werewolf too."

Heimdall's matter of fact way of revealing Lafayette was infected with lycanthropy caused him to give a mirthless laugh. "I'll have to buy Magic Shave by the case."

"You will die, even as a werewolf. Why not die sooner than go through that?"

"I thought you were affected by their spell. You sound like yourself, suggesting that. I don't want to die. What I'd really like is to be a vampire." With a slight grin, he said, "I promised Eric I'd make one badass vampire."

"I'm a badass vampire," Heimdall replied.

"Nah, you're too good."

"You claimed to know me."

"Yeah. You worry about my health. What kind of badass cares if I die of cancer?"

Cancer. That was an illness. Heimdall did not detect a serious illness in this man. Only the grave injury.

He turned to go, but Lafayette called, "Can you stay?"

"Stay?"

"I don't want to die alone."

Alone. What was wrong with being alone? Heimdall remembered being alone much of his time. He even woke as a vampire for the first time alone. From what he heard from others, that was not done. Heimdall did not confess to them he was buried with the garbage before the camp broke up and everyone moved on. His body was trash. A dead slave was all he was. Being alone was good … most of the time. If he could understand the language of birds, deer, foxes, and crickets, he'd never miss company.

Lafayette meant what he said. Heimdall wouldn't be his first choice, yet there was a lot worse. Except Heimdall without a memory was looking towards the door, giving him the sense that he wouldn't stay all night so Lafayette better hurry up and die. Great. Worse fucking time for him to have no memory about anything.

"What are you going to do after this?" Lafayette asked him, trying to get him interested in sticking around.

"Kill more."

"Huh? What'choo gonna kill?" Lafayette asked in disbelief.

Heimdall answered, "I don't care."

The only reason Lafayette took him seriously was Heimdall's fangs came back out, yet he seemed uninterested in all the blood lying around here, both Lafayette's and Jesus's.

"Werewolves?" Lafayette prompted.

"Have a temporary truce. Will need to wait to kill those. These ones smell quite clean."

That meant nothing to Lafayette. Motherfuckers killed him. Killed Jesus. And he hoped Heimdall got all up in their shit and soon.

"Are you going to kill them for me?"

"Why?"

"Look at me," Lafayette replied.

"This is what werewolves do."

"I'm dying."

Heimdall stated, "Humans die."

"I don't want to die."

"Everyone dies. Even the immortals."

"Easy for you to say. Losing your memory, the second time, is the best thing that's probably ever happened to you."

"The second time? I've been attacked by witches before?"

"No, you had a problem when you were made a vampire."

Heimdall nodded. He understood he was made vampire in error. The battle had quieted in the rest of the building. He had missed his chance to kill more while waiting with this suffering human. Perhaps he would find more to annihilate once he left here. Men, women, children, livestock, pets, and … werewolves. He'd kill some werewolves if they lingered once the truce was absolved. Perhaps he'd kill Sookie too, if she 'gave him lip'. Heimdall knew he was not smart, yet he did not have to tolerate a human addressing him so disrespectfully. Yes, he'd kill her if his Eric was well-behaved, if not he'd command Eric to kill her. Eric was too soft.

"I can take care of you."

"I am not a child," Heimdall argued.

"No, you're not," Lafayette agreed. "You're a treasure."

Heimdall's head tilted. A treasure? What nonsense was this? He was a thing. A thing that brought death to everywhere he traveled. This human could be delusional since he was dying, yet not due to Heimdall. An interesting thing to see … someone dying and he did not cause it. He could finish him quicker, yet the human called him a treasure, after confessing he knew him. Quite odd.

It did not matter _when_ he was here. As a human, he was hated. He was hated as a vampire. His human was not very likable, her heart raced both for his vampire child, and whenever a new male vampire entered the room. A thousand years seemed to change nothing, except gift him with companions that preferred the company of others. When did he decide such a thing was better than being alone? There had to be something that helped the long nights pass in less time. Someone that could make him forget how long these nights repeated. The only mercy was he could not count to enumerate how incessant this life was.

"Could you be a companion of death?" Heimdall asked, almost abstractedly.

"Huh?"

"Could you walk with me through the dark world?"

Lafayette's heartbeat sped. Was Heimdall offering what he thought? "Anything," he answered. "I'm sorry you don't remember me. How can I say in a few words what you are to me? You're not like any other vampire I've met."

The failing piece of meat on the floor sounded sincere. If this was a mistake, Heimdall could kill him later. Eric … he'd let live. He was respectful towards him. It was difficult for Heimdall to define what he wanted. Respect was a start, yet he wanted more from someone … anyone.

"Ow," Lafayette complained, as Heimdall took a handful of his insides and pushed them back into his body.

"You don't want to heal with this on the outside … or maybe, I should get rid of it. Vampires don't eat. I don't believe you'd need this fleshy snake at all."

"Back in'll be better," Lafayette grimaced. "I can't have my six pack caving in."

"Six pack?"

Lafayette's finger touched Heimdall's bare abdomen. "You're beautiful."

"I'm not."

"I know beautiful. You got it. I got it. And screw the rest of them."

"I don't understand some of the words you use."

Lafayette grunted in pain as Heimdall shoved the last of him back inside. How the fuck did all this fit in him in the first place?

Keeping a hand on the wound to keep the replaced insides inside, Heimdall leaned close to Lafayette's face, and warned, "This is only until I don't want you. Then I'll have to kill you."

"Boyfriend, you talkin' crazy. Everyone wants me."

Heimdall was almost certain he'd like this person. He was bold, even in the face of death.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Pam had subdued Hallow. She was the woman that had come into Merlotte's, and she was the only one that sensed Sookie trying to read her mind.

The witch had tried to cast something to make them all sick, but before Sookie could figure out what she was muttering by reading her mind and saying something, because she was concentrating on the spell, Pam had already dropped her elbow on Hallow's throat.

Eric was kneeling next to something with Gerald on the other side of the room, and Sookie was thinking how exhausted she was when a dark wolf, almost black, shimmered back to human form next to her. Naked Alcide. Yum. Now was not the time, but she could always recall the details she was now committing to memory later.

"There's blood on you," he said.

"Not mine."

"Hurt?" he asked, while Sookie noticed Alcide had cuts to match the smears of blood on his body.

"Not really. I was pushed around, but I'm fine, yet real tired."

"I'm sorry we didn't find your brother here."

"And Eric already asked Pam if the vampires had him."

"Why would the vampires have him?"

It seemed silly now to think that, but Sookie was sure it had been a good idea when she first drove to Shreveport. Any idea that resulted in Jason being found alive was a good idea.

"They're vampires," she explained.

"Chow's dead."

"How?"

"A witch had a wooden knife."

"Oh," Sookie said, thinking that would have been handy against someone like Lorena or Russell. She then said, "I'm sorry about Debbie."

"Debbie who?"

Okay, so Sookie never wanted to be 'abjured'. Maybe. There would some people she would like to forget about her. Bill being back in town put him at the top of that list. Unlike him, she couldn't turn it off and on.

Hallow was alive, and there was another witch that was badly hurt. Sookie was saddened to hear that the witches did have a prisoner, but the werewolves had accidentally killed him. Lafayette was going to be broken up that Jesus was gone.

Besides Chow being the only real vampire casualty, since the others would heal, the werewolves lost three, and Colonel Flood was seriously wounded.

Eric came over and said, "We must go. Pam is going to have this place burnt to hide what had occurred here."

"Is Heimdall still here?"

"No, he has already departed."

There was nothing Sookie could do about that. Unlike Eric, losing his memories did not make the other vampire wary of anything.

The leaders of the alliance, Pam, Colonel Flood, with blood soaking through a bandage on his leg, and the older African-American Wiccan, shook hands before they all departed.

Sookie overheard that Bill was going to remain in Shreveport, staying wherever Chow rested for the day. She hadn't heard why. Why was he staying? Why was he here? Why wasn't Pam telling Eric to do something to him?

"Do you feel any different?" Sookie asked Eric, as he walked her back to her car.

"No." He looked thoughtful, then said, "Pam said she would make Hallow fix me. Would it be bad if she did not?"

"Let's wait and see," Sookie said. She didn't hear Hallow threatening not to, yet the fight went so easily in their favor that something seemed wrong. Why did Hallow pick on both the vampires and weres? Either group alone might have beat them.

Sookie didn't feel like talking much more because she was tired, cold and wet, besides dirty from getting knocked to the floor, and had blood on her. She had faith in Pam's ability to be intimidating, and Pam seemed to want Eric back.

At her car, Eric asked, "Can I go home with you? I don't know these people."

"But ..." his clothes were at Pam's seemed a crappy reason to tell him he couldn't come along. There was always Jason's things in the attic. It would be lonely again, and Sookie wasn't sure if Bill was speaking loud enough for her to hear he'd be in Shreveport the rest of the night because he was really planning to head to Bon Temps. "Sure, come with me."

On the quiet drive, Sookie got to thinking that what she really needed was a cup of coffee. She had considered tea briefly, but she needed something stronger. Some more sex with Eric would be wonderful too, and she wanted to be awake for it.

Although Heimdall could be getting into trouble, technically she was only paid to keep Eric safe. Heimdall was more than capable of taking care of himself, and things could have gone badly with the witches since he didn't want to follow instructions. Even with no knowledge of what was going on, he was high-handed, like the rest of the vampires she had met.

When they parked next to her house, Eric got out of the car and sniffed the air. "Someone has been here."

"Bill?"

"No, not a vampire. I think a werewolf."

They just left all the werewolves Sookie knew back in Shreveport. If they were coming here to talk to her, if there was an emergency, they'd have to pass her on the highway. There were no cars parked here, besides hers.

Eric turned his head, then suggested, "Go into the house. I'll try to track it."

"Eric, those witches were also weres. Maybe we should both go inside."

"I am not afraid of them."

"Just because that fight was easy doesn't mean it's over yet. You still don't know who you are."

"I'm your lover."

"Right, but we gotta think this ain't good. Come in with me."

"I will need to look before dawn," Eric warned as he climbed the porch stairs behind her. He was not going to leave Sookie in a dangerous situation, if he could help it. He now knew she could not follow simple instructions, such as return to the car. She also went to his club, after knowing about the witches, to find murdered and injured humans, and also found a dead werewolf in Shreveport, without telling him that she was going out for the day. She was a headstrong woman that may need to be protected from herself, more than anything else.

Sookie's mind refocused on coffee. Once she had a cup or two, they could work on what this smell was. Maybe they could check the cemetery and around Hadley's house. There was the possibility Bill could be over there, and she'd like Eric to back up that she was not interested in talking to him, or seeing him.

She turned on the kitchen light, and immediately noticed something wrong. Debbie Pelt was sitting at her kitchen table, smiling and pointing a gun at her.

The bitch didn't even have the manners to say something before she pulled the trigger.

Sookie cringed, but it was Eric, moving into the way, that got shot in the chest, and fell to his knees on the kitchen floor.

While Debbie stared at Eric, who was doing an extraordinary death scene, Sookie did what anyone would do. She grabbed her shotgun and pumped it. Between Rene and werewolves, Sookie kept it handy and ready to go. It wouldn't stop a vampire, but she could throw them out of her house with a few words. It was all these other bastards that kept showing up that could come in uninvited.

Sookie's shot was louder than Debbie's, and it actually hit the target. She pumped the other shell, but Debbie was quite dead. Sookie had loaded it with shells that would have taken down that boar in Jason's woods.

Eric was now face down on the floor, gasping and twitching.

"If you're going to try and trick me into sucking that bullet out, Eric, you've already done that."

With a sigh, she knelt down and asked, "What are you doing?" before noticing that bloody foam was coming out of his mouth and nose.

"Drink," he moaned.

Sookie hopped up, went to the fridge, and got out a bottle of Tru Blood. The front of her microwave was as filthy as the rest of the kitchen now, but she used it.

She helped Eric drink it, before he reached to hold it himself. He was looking better already.

"Why not your blood?" he asked. Eric did not understand what Sookie was to his maker, however the answer that she was another vampire's was the answer he expected.

"You did earn it, saving me from that, but I need my energy. I missed work, and I can't be missing a whole bunch of nights 'cause'a you vampires."

"Once I am restored, you will no longer have to work there," Eric said. "May I please have another?"

Sookie nodded, trying to hide how she felt. This might be the last time Eric said 'please' to her.

She gave him the second, heated bottle, and he sat, his eyes looking toward what was left of Debbie Pelt.

There was still a lot of her, just that Sookie shot her in the head or face, so there was a mostly whole body, and a mess.

Eric was a mess too. Both from the fight earlier, and now.

"Did you want to get cleaned up first?"

"I will help you."

Sookie was happy Eric helped because he didn't mind touching … anything. He even volunteered to take Debbie's bagged up remains away from the house for burial, while she wiped everything down. Blood sprayed in the most inconvenient places, but she had bleach wipes, kitchen cleaner, and wood soap for the cabinets. Eric also took Debbie's car keys to look for where she left it so it could be moved away from her house.

Rather than waiting for Eric, Sookie took a hot shower, put on a worn, comfy nightgown and went to bed. It was close to dawn.

Eric joined her and whispered, "All done."

"Thanks, baby," she murmured back.

"Anything for you, my lover."

Bottom of Form


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 19**

Heimdall's conscious was now alert. It was over an hour till sundown, he was in the earth, and something was very, very wrong.

Like any vampire, his memory was perfect. He knew exactly where he was and who he was with when he began resting at dawn today. He was with Eric beneath Sookie Stackhouse's house.

This earth was not the same earth. This earth was fresh and alive with things that grew above it, when the weather permitted.

He was not with Eric. This vampire … was his. He had only ever made Eric.

Whoever it was, they … he was still resting. By smell and feel, Heimdall could not tell if it was someone he already knew, or a stranger. How could he not remember making a vampire? This was terrible.

Was he having a nightmare during a period of vampire mental rest? No, he wouldn't remember resting with Eric, who was afflicted by the witches … was he also afflicted? Why would the witches attack him?

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

In Bon Temps, Eric became aware. He was buried in stale, cold earth. The sun would set soon. Heimdall was west, and something was not right with him.

For now, he did the only thing he was capable of, he listened. There was one distant, steady heartbeat above, then movement.

A phone call was made, and he heard Sookie's voice ask, "Is there any update on Jason Stackhouse?"

There was a pause as he heard a tinny murmur respond, then she asked, "Could you call me if there's anything found? Any news at all?"

Her brother was in hospital? Found could mean an illness or missing. Why was he this close to Sookie while he rested? Why was he resting in a strange place? What was wrong with Heimdall? His feelings were a tangle, and none were good. Was he worried about Eric? Heimdall should be able to feel that he was unharmed.

The sun set.

He dug up through the earth and found himself in a dark, dank confined space with a low ceiling. He was in the crawlspace under a house.

Eric followed the path broken through the years of cobwebs to exit through a missing piece of painted latticework.

He had no clothes. Were they in Sookie's house? He'd rather not delay in reaching Heimdall, yet his maker would not like him traveling visibly unclothed over a distance.

Right, her back porch was still smashed from him dropping a tree on it months ago. Sookie Stackhouse was a procrastinator who enjoyed listening to herself complain.

He went around to the front door and knocked.

Sookie opened it quickly, and said, "Hey ..."

She could tell something was different about Eric. Facially, the way he stood there, even naked, and then he asked, "Why am I at your house?"

"To stay safe. Don't you know what happened?"

"I went to a meeting," he said, but with a hint of doubt.

"Yeah, and that witch was booby trapped with a spell, and you ended up here."

Eric asked, "Under your house?"

"No, out on the road. Did you want your pants? They're upstairs. You usually shower after you rest."

"Usually," he repeated. "How long has this been going on?"

"Since the first."

He became distracted, and lost his train of thought to ask Sookie what 'the first' meant in relation to now. Heimdall was in emotional pain, yet he was not close enough that it should feel so strongly. He was also not getting closer. What was he worried about, if not Eric?

"Pam knows of this?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, she wanted you to stay here."

"Is my phone with my clothing?"

"No, I just have your jeans from last night. Come in," Sookie backed up to give Eric and his nakedness a lot of room.

Things were going to be different now, Sookie promised herself, even though she wanted more. She tricked herself into thinking she'd have more time with the nice, innocent Eric.

She was bruised and sore from the fight last night, and that went against her New Year resolution not to get her ass kicked or killed. Being with Eric, especially normal Eric, was not healthy.

After following Sookie's pointed finger and starting up the stairs, Eric asked, "Every evening I rise, knock on the door, and come inside to shower and dress?"

"Kind of. I've only been only working one shift a day while you're here."

Even without being able to see Sookie's eyes or face, Eric didn't believe her. "Why don't I remember this?" he asked.

"You were under a spell."

These were his jeans, yet he expected Sookie to have washed them, if this was all he had to wear. He didn't have time for a shower, since he needed to get to Heimdall, didn't have a phone, and why bother if he was putting on a garment this filthy? There was even blood on them.

Sookie saw Eric staring at his jeans. She meant to get up earlier and wash them, after she got the kitchen curtains done, which were still soaking since last night.

She asked, "You don't remember last night?"

"Was I wearing these?"

"Yes."

"I guess not," Eric admitted.

Okay, so Eric didn't remember the big battle, nor did her remember her murdering Debbie Pelt and hiding the body.

"Did we make love?" Eric asked.

"Huh?" Sookie blurted out, more because Eric switched gears in a hurry, rather than a denial.

"Did you yield to me? You know it's only a matter of time, lover."

Oh gosh, he said 'lover' the same way. Damn Eric.

"What is wrong?" Eric asked.

"Nothing. I'm glad you're better so let me get out of your way so you can get cleaned up."

"You did not wash and dress me?"

"Hell no," Sookie lied, thinking of their mutual shower time. "You didn't remember your name, but you weren't helpless."

"I must go," Eric said, pulling the dirty jeans onto his skin that still had flecks of dirt on it.

So this was it? "You can call me after you talk to Pam. She knows everything," Sookie said, hoping Pam didn't know _everything_. "I gotta get to work."

"There is nothing else I should know?" Eric asked, ready to go.

"I don't think so. Pam's your best bet," she said, not sure what Heimdall would talk about.

"Your brother?" Eric prompted.

Sookie was shocked. Jason disappeared after Eric lost his memory, and if reversing the spell made him forget everything that happened since it was cast, how'd he know about Jason? "How'd you know he's missing?"

"I heard you on the telephone earlier, but did not know what the problem was," he explained.

"He disappeared one night, outside his house. If you hear or see anything, help me."

"I will," Eric agreed. "Good night."

"Yeah, good night."

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

As soon as the sun set, Heimdall dug himself, and whoever was with him, up and out.

It was Lafayette, and he did not begin to stir till the sun was fully down because he was a young vampire.

Why would he do such a monstrous thing to someone who was always kind to him? Heimdall anguished.

Lafayette rose for the first time. He was relieved that Heimdall was still with him. When his remaining blood was drained, Lafayette partially lost consciousness, and barely remembered the sweet taste of Heimdall's blood. Was human blood going to taste as good now, or was it only his sweet, twink maker that would taste that way to him?

His eyes admired Heimdall being naked, though he was in an awkward position, kneeling beside him.

"Holy shit," Lafayette exclaimed, grabbing his group of favorite body parts and scrambling to his feet. Still there. Every piece. How long would that last? His dreams of Eric included everything. Eddie had his.

"How could I have done this?" was Heimdall's tormented question, ignoring Lafayette's cause for consternation.

"I asked you to," Lafayette replied. There was no reason for Heimdall to feel guilty. He did a good thing.

"No. What happened? Why don't I remember?"

"I was gonna die 'less you did it."

Heimdall stated, "Better dead than risk your immortal soul."

"Not this again." He felt great. Better than great. Better than when he had Eric's blood. This time though he didn't start dancing. Heimdall was upset, so dancing would have to wait till later.

"How can you act like that is an unimportant detail? This is a disaster."

Lafayette felt him getting murdered would have been a disaster. He had to make Heimdall see the positives. "No, don't you see? I can take care of you. You won't need to be dependent on Eric."

After a moment, Heimdall looked at him and asked, "Why are you trying to confuse me with nonsense?"

"You don't need him anymore."

"Why would I agree to that?"

"This is the first time we're talking about it, other than making you a promise that I'd care for you. You lost your memory because of a witch spell. My guts were ripped out, lying all over the floor, and you came and saved me from a long, painful, drawn-out death. I will take care of you, and it ain't only 'cause of that. You're a good person, even as a vampire. You're too good for Eric."

"Really?"

Lafayette looked up. Eric was in midair, wearing a pair of blue jeans, without a shirt or shoes.

"Really," Lafayette replied, putting on a brave front. He was vampire too now. Anything short of a wooden stake would hurt, but wouldn't kill him. He had to set the tone now that he was not going to be pushed around by the big, blond vampire.

Heimdall looked at Eric. Still feeling his maker's pain, that he felt all the way in Bon Temps, Eric descended to stand in front of him and put his hands on his bare shoulders.

"I don't remember," Heimdall said, unable to explain this.

"Neither do I," Eric replied.

"You lost your memory first," Heimdall said. "I went to ground with you in Bon Temps, but woke here with Lafayette. I made him, but have no recollection of it."

"You asked me if I could be a companion to death," Lafayette said.

Eric scowled at Lafayette, and accused, "You tricked him."

"I know he's young and'll make mistakes, but his memory was also gone. He only knew I was dyin'."

"I can fix that." Bitingly, Eric suggested, "You couldn't let such artistry go to waste? It would be the equivalent of destroying the Mona Lisa?"

Lafayette had lived with jealousy his entire life, so recognized Eric's true feeling immediately. Even as an immortal, he didn't have time for haters. "Are we gonna stand out here with you ogling my naked ass all night?"

"_You _can stand out here naked as long as you want."

"Eric, no. Lafayette needs to feed," Heimdall said.

Rather than arguing, Eric glared at Lafayette.

Heimdall assured him, "This subject is not closed, only delayed."

Lafayette recalled the threat Heimdall made that he would kill him when he grew tired of him. Where had that alternate personality come from? Heimdall with no memories of being human was a sweetheart, and the other Heimdall with no memories was the badass vampire that Lafayette threatened he'd become.

"Where we goin'?" Lafayette asked, both concerned that Eric could leave them eating his dust as he quickly circled them, and the two of them had nothing on. Not that it was winter, because that didn't bother him anymore, but because someone could see them. It wasn't close enough to Fat Tuesday, and the Saints were no longer in the playoffs.

"What might be your daytime resting place till I stake you," Eric threatened.

"Eric," Heimdall warned, then asked, "How far?"

"We're close enough. Follow me."

Lafayette saw Eric speed up, and before he could ask Heimdall if they could keep up, had his hand grabbed and got a massive pull that had both his shoulder and his mouth screaming.

Heimdall stopped, yet Lafayette still had momentum and continued forward movement before his maker spun him sideways.

Eric's one raised eyebrow annoyed him as the Viking settled back on the ground, having retrieved a spare key before Lafayette could see where it was kept.

They were behind a nice, upscale brick, one-story house, next to a fenced, in-ground pool, covered for winter.

Eric unlocked a windowless, back door of painted steel, then played a tune on a security panel.

"I'll check to see if anyone's been here later."

Heimdall nodded. Eric's security system allowed him to review any activity in the house.

Lafayette followed the two of them inside. The kitchen was top-of-the-line.

Eric took two bottles of Tru Blood out of the pristine refrigerator, removed the cap from one, and placed it in the microwave.

He teased, "Give the baby his bottle when it's done. I'm going to check my mail. Pam's coming."

Heimdall nodded again, still trying to remember what happened. He did not want to spread word of his horrible mistake, yet Pam may know what happened. Even if he lost his memory like Eric, how could he be so irresponsible?

The microwave signaled it was done. Lafayette glanced at Heimdall. He was staring at the wall. Was it the threat of Pam that immobilized him?

He was hungry. Really hungry.

"Should I …?" he asked.

Heimdall turned his head and looked blankly at him.

"The Tru Blood? Is that one yours, and I'll heat up one for me?"

"Take it. I don't need it."

Restraining himself from ripping open the door and guzzling the whole bottle, Lafayette said, "It may look black now, but you'll need to eat too."

"I am definitely not making that bargain with you. You'll need to feed often, Lafayette."

"What bargain?"

"Eric and I must drink a bottle if the other does. Drink yours. The second one is for you if you want it. There is plenty in the refrigerator, and we'll get more."

Lafayette took the warmed bottle and tried to look civilized. He was ravenously hungry, and now he knew that Tru Blood tasted like shit. Hot and liquidy like someone filled them straight from a sewage line. Kentwood Springs had nothing to worry about.

Further detracting from his first dining experience as a vampire, was Eric returning to the kitchen, looking thunderous.

"Did someone break into the house?" Heimdall asked.

"No," Eric growled. "It's Sophie-Anne. Someone reported that I was non compos mentis."

"Is any vampire sane?"

"I'm not talking philosophy," Eric snarled. "She is sending her new Royal Inspector. Her term, not mine."

"Andre?"

"Andre? Why would Andre have me itching for a stake? This is so much _better_. That weasel, Compton, is alive, and somehow got a promotion."

"Promotion? Was he … oh, is procurer of flesh a position in the Louisiana queen's court?" Heimdall asked with a rhetorical sadness.

"If he didn't secure the queen's protection, there would be a visible queue behind him of stake wielders."

"This situation is inexplicable, except they are both vampire."

"What's goin' on?" Lafayette asked.

"Don't trust Bill Compton with anything," Eric warned. "Emulate his behavior, and I'll stake you."

Lafayette didn't like the continued threats of being staked. He looked to Heimdall, who explained, "I also find his behavior shameful."

Shameful. Lafayette wasn't sure what he could do to please Heimdall. He already knew the boy was quirky, yet did not seem to mind the big things like being gay or black. Those were things Lafayette couldn't change. Actually, Heimdall reminded him of when he first realized how much he enjoyed looking at other males, as opposed to girls or women. Showering, after gym or sports, seeing his classmates and teammates, as naked as Heimdall was now.

"You're filthy," Eric said.

How did that motherfucker know what he was thinking? Well, it might be because he was still naked too. Lafayette turned to the counter, ignoring Eric, twisted the cap off the second bottle, and put it in the microwave. He was still hungry, and was going to have to figure out how to get the real stuff, or get all jedi like Heimdall who seemed to ignore humans throwing themselves at him at Fangtasia.

"Is Pam close?" Heimdall asked. "I want to know what happened."

"Shower and dress. The past will not change anything so you can wait a few minutes. Go with him, Lafayette, when you finish that. You can have more later."

"Pam can catch you partially up. I was not with you when the spell took effect. I found you later that night, and stayed with you till I lost my memory."

"Why did they attack you?" Eric asked.

"Maybe Pam knows. Oh, Chow knows who I am now. We need to discuss that too."

"Chow threatened you?" Eric asked.

"No, it's how he found out. There's a computer at Miss Stackhouse's, not hers, that lists many vampires, their histories, and there was a photo of me. It's not important if we know where the computer is. Or … no, I think that's changed now. It's Compton's. He knows everything on it."

Eric's hand went to his pocket out of habit. He had no phone. It was going to be a long night. Like Heimdall, he had many questions in order to get all the details of the period of his lost memory. Perhaps that was the whole purpose of the spell. With perfect memories, vampires could not comprehend forgetting something.

Speaking for himself, Eric knew he'd obsess over what happened, and he did not recover in the earth against a newly made vampire. He understood Heimdall's distress. At least Lafayette claimed to have been dying, so Heimdall's acceptance would come gradually, unless Lafayette was a disappointment. Eric doubted he would be a bad vampire. Lafayette was adaptable, yet Heimdall already had one perfect child. He didn't need Lafayette.

Heimdall waited for Lafayette, and before he left to go downstairs, he said, "I did not know what to do initially when you were afflicted. Besides clothes, I had money and our passports. I put our items in Miss Stackhouse's attic. You'll need those back."

"We stayed at Sookie's?"

"Yes, though I thought it a poor decision."

"Why was that place chosen at all? Bon Temps is not close, was that why?"

"No, that's where you were when I found you."

"I lost my memory and flew to Bon Temps? What is it about that place?"

"Pam and Chow claimed you disappeared from Fangtasia."

Eric had no idea so shrugged in response. They had already discussed the peculiarity of Bon Temps at length and come to no conclusion.

He let them go, and as Pam arrived, Eric was considering how Lafayette could be useful in keeping Heimdall from worrying over philosophical quandaries.

Lafayette knew he was on Heimdall's team, now matter what now, but was reluctant to share what he knew. As long as Heimdall did not realize he was with the witches, there should be no need to make a confession. What he needed to do was get the two of their asses away from Eric.

He followed Heimdall through an unlit, yet clearly visible now that he was also vampire, large, living room and down plushly carpeted stairs to a short hallway leading to a thick steel door reminiscent of a bank vault.

It was a wait while the boy turned the wheel left and right multiple times, trying to open it with a lever in between. Usually Eric opened it, and in Dallas, there was a number pad, like the touch tone telephones, after they increased their security twelve years ago. Before that, he could lock himself in securely for the day with a combination of bolts. He preferred the bolts. It was something manual and visible, that needed no power to operate.

Lafayette could not believe his first night as a vampire was going to include his teen fantasy come true. Problem was he was years older now, and Heimdall's tattoos detracted from the image of the innocent teen, about to have his first male-on-male experience.

Since Heimdall only turned on the cold water, Lafayette was not as comfortable as he'd like, even though he enjoyed the view of the boy's lower, tattooless half which he could store away for many hours of private enjoyment. Although, he had to firmly categorize Heimdall under boy, rather then young man. Maybe too young.

When Heimdall moved from under the water and picked up the bottle of body wash, Lafayette's watchful eyes noticed something odd, beside the missing body parts that alarmed him upon rising for the first time.

"What happened to your tattoos?"

"I must have been injured. I'll need to ask Chow to repair them."

"What's that mean?"

"My old tattoos were hidden. If I have an injury where my skin regrows, my appearance reverts back to what I was when I was first turned."

"So …" Lafayette paused because suggesting an injury to the area he pointed at on Heimdall's body even made him cringe, even though Lafayette was not suggesting it for himself.

"That happened while I was human. Nothing can restore what was taken from me then."

Of course, Lafayette thought in relief. Who'd purposely get rid of those? "You had testicular cancer or something?"

Heimdall's eyes widened in realization, then he said, "That's not the case, but it's unimportant. There's much you don't know about me yet."

A hand reached in and turned the water control knob. "I do have hot water, Lafayette," Eric explained. "Move over."

Lafayette exclaimed, "What'choo doin'?"

"I also rested in the earth today. I suspect Heimdall's doing since he can't resist getting dirty."

In a way, Lafayette wanted to believe Eric referred to Heimdall in a boylike fashion regarding 'filthy' and 'dirty'. Heimdall was going to be Lafayette's, and it was only fair because Eric had everything else.

"Lafayette pointed out my tattoos were damaged. After we talk to Pam, can Chow fix them, before someone else sees them?"

"That's a problem. Pam's here, and her initial report was Chow, Clancy and Ginger are all dead."

"Yes, Ginger. I remember. You, while not yourself, told me of Ginger, but knew no details. Clancy was abducted by the witches. Chow?"

"Pam told me to wash first. If I stayed above with her too long, I might have been tempted to speak and ruin your surprise."

"What surprise?"

Eric jabbed Lafayette with his finger, and said, "This is hard to ignore."

Lafayette had been absently using the body wash Heimdall had handed him, while detailing how Eric matched his dream image in every way, so far.

"I'm sorry," Heimdall replied.

Lafayette turned on Eric and snapped, "Don't hassle him. He was not himself last night, and you weren't either."

"Yes, what was I doing while you were becoming one of us? Standing there, watching, cheering and applauding?"

"How the fuck should I know? I was lyin' on a dirty floor, waiting for my life to ebb away. I didn't have time or even interest in what your ass was doin'."

"I think you can make the time to find out what my ass is doing," was Eric's saucy reply. "Instead you checked out what Heimdall's ass was doing?"

"I saw him and asked him not to leave me alone to die."

"You begged?' Eric taunted.

"It could'a sounded like that. I don't wanna die and dyin' so soon when I still had plans and dreams, and bein' alone at the end could'a made me sound desperate."

"Plans? Ha. Like what? Getting to Home Depot, buying some sheets of plywood, and doubling the size of your _house_? Or were you planning on buying some rims?"

"You don't know nuthin' 'bout me."

"Stop, Eric," Heimdall said. To Lafayette, the words sounded mild, but Eric knew his maker was serious.

Eric stepped out of the shower. He was not even going to ask Lafayette to pass the soap. He would get to the bottom of everything that happened while he was mentally absent. Witches, Sookie, and most especially, Lafayette.

Lafayette backed into the water to rinse off while keeping a wary eye on Eric and his towel till they left the room.

He put a hand out to Heimdall. The shorter vampire looked up into his eyes and Lafayette indicated with a pull on his arm, he should come closer.

Heimdall took the invited half-step. Lafayette pulled him into an embrace and turned him into the water. He was still foamy from the body wash.

"Don't worry. I promised you I'd take care of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Eric. You don't need him anymore. You could live with me in Bon Temps."

"You don't understand. Yet. It's not what you think, but it will take time to explain. I have to think."

"I can think for both of us."

"No, you can't. I am your maker."

It was a benign assertion, in Lafayette's opinion. Heimdall was his maker, but he was hardly a vampire. The only thing that defined him as such was his diet. Lafayette wanted to take charge, rather than letting Eric make decisions for them.

He remained quiet as they finished. Lafayette knew he should bide his time.

"You may have to borrow Eric's clothes. Mine will not fit you."

Lafayette was still thinking about the two of them sharing a closet meaning they shared the large bed in the bedroom they just passed through. He'd prefer waking up all dirty every night, if it kept Eric and Heimdall apart.

Whatever Eric had going on, Lafayette could do so much better. He was … almost sure of it. The dreams were mostly Lafayette. They were his dreams. Dream Eric was not the real Eric. He could treat Heimdall the way he deserved.

Eric was still around, and threw some clothes at Lafayette. He'd tolerate it for now, for Heimdall's sake. Eric could be hard on Lafayette later, when he learned the truth.

Pam, on the other hand, was waiting upstairs.

Lafayette's feet were not close in size to either of them so he went up only wearing a pair of Eric's track pants and a tank shirt, or what his mama called a guinea T.

His mind filled with ideas to get Heimdall to move to his house in Bon Temps. Obviously, Eric's house had his beat on comfort and security. Heimdall may not agree on the location advantage, such as they were further from Eric and Pam there.

Slowly and precisely, Pam asked, "What did you do?" when she saw a third vampire come up the stairs.

Eric's finger pointed at Heimdall.

"You only lost your memory for one night, and you are worse than a sailor who hadn't been on shore leave in over a year?"

"We don't remember yesterday," Heimdall meekly replied.

Pam's eyes flicked between the three of them as she took in this new development. Lafayette was not a terrible choice to make vampire.

Pam declared, "So it appears my new uncle is not filthy rich and in failing health. This is a terrible disappointment."

"You and I ain't nothin', honey cone," Lafayette replied. He wasn't going to let Pam push him around either.

Her perky, raised eyebrow disagreed.

"You are to respect both Eric and Pam as your elders," Heimdall instructed. "Who I am needs to be explained, yet I am mightily curious regarding your inclusion in our number, what happened during Eric's absence from Shreveport, and anything related to how witches could do such things to us."

Seeing their bags, that Pam had brought, Heimdall pointed at a black, fabric one with a shiny, Dell circle on it, and said, "That is our second priority. Why is a list of vampires and how to identify individuals, along with their long histories, being compiled, when many of us have been forthcoming and doing what is required to register, get licenses and pay taxes?"

"Bill's returned to Bon Temps," Pam said. "He arrived last night, tried to shift the focus to himself, but reluctantly helped with the witches. I didn't realize his computer was among the things Sookie left at my house till tonight, because last night I was concerned with restoring my sheriff."

"I had a communication from Sophie-Anne that Bill Compton continues to work for her," Eric said, sitting on the sofa before throwing his legs up on it. "Is the information about Louisiana vampires?"

"No, it's more," Heimdall replied. "It may have every current monarch in this country. Chow was going to review it more later. Speaking of Chow, who else can fix my tattoos?"

"I'm not sure," Eric admitted. "That's an obvious spot on your back that needs repair before you can go shirtless."

"Why?" Lafayette asked.

"That will be part of the longer explanation," Heimdall said. He chose to seat himself in a chair, facing Pam, who was already seated.

He then said, "We will start with Eric appearing in Bon Temps, after disappearing from Shreveport. How and why did that happen?"

"We don't know that," Pam explained. "It was part of the curse."

"When I was cursed, did I leave the space under Miss Stackhouse's home?"

Eric didn't know, so Pam said, "If you did, you must not have gone far. Sookie brought you with Eric to my house last night."

After a moment's pause, Heimdall asked, "Where did Eric show up? At the house, the cemetery where the fairy portal is, or somewhere else?"

"I don't remember where I was. I have nothing between Fangtasia on New Year's to earlier this evening."

"You could ask Sookie," Lafayette suggested. He had noticed Heimdall had taken charge of the conversation, and he was no longer speaking like he normally did. The melodic lilt was gone, and he had a little accent.

Heimdall's chin inclined in his direction, but he did not look at Lafayette as he dismissively said, "She is a difficult person to have a conversation with."

Since the flow of questions had been interrupted, Pam gleefully informed Eric, "You owe Sookie thirty thousand dollars."

"For what? If I broke her car, it's not worth that much."

"Room and board."

"I was only there …" Eric's fingers flashed briefly, as he recalled the date he saw on his computer earlier, "… days. Not weeks. Not months."

Heimdall said, "It was my idea when you would not leave her house. The witches offered fifty thousand dollars for information about where you were."

"You said I'd pay it?"

"Yes," Pam agreed with a smiling nod. "I witnessed it, and you repeated last night that I was to ensure it was paid."

To prove to himself that he was in his right mind, Eric stated, "I am paying thirty thousand dollars to sleep in dirt for less than a week? I did not even have laundry done, because I was given back my filthy pants back to wear tonight."

"You did not need to sleep beneath the house. Sookie argued with me that she wanted us to rest in Compton's resting place within her house, but I was not agreeable."

"Why should you be?" Eric asked. If Compton wanted to inspect for Sophie-Anne, he could examine the inside of a coffin bound with silver for a decade or two.

Still not believing the price, Eric asked, "Besides resting, did I get served Royalty?"

"She had sex with you every night once she returned from work," Heimdall said.

"Really?" Eric asked, thinking his maker might be joking.

"Yes."

Eric reviewed Sookie's good points, mostly her physical aspects and the one taste he had of her blood, that he currently remembered, and asked, "I had carnal relations with your human, and you knew?"

Lafayette hid his hurt. He could have been whatever Heimdall needed. Was it because he was seeing Jesus? He loved Jesus, but like so many others Lafayette fell for, he had a bad side.

"Yes. I believe she was trying to divide us, and you are easily led by a woman in that way."

"I am, but a human cannot come between a vampire and his maker."

"True, but she has tried this on us before. Remember, she wanted me to go to Jackson with her?"

Eric grinned. Yes, Sookie had used sex to try and get what she wanted before. Then he said, "What did she want?"

"Her brother is missing, yet I went to his house twice. She convinced you to go across the cemetery to her cousin's house. Witches were there."

"Yes," Pam agreed, "Heimdall was quite irate that she lured you out of hiding to confront your enemies while disadvantaged."

"So you stopped me?"

"No, but the Shreveport werewolves chased the witches off, and then all of them knew where you were being hidden."

"I am not liking the sound of this. Was I extraordinarily gullible?"

"You walked around without a single thought in your head," Pam laughed, and widened her eyes to an extreme and went slack-jawed.

"No," Eric denied.

"Yes, but you sounded like you were enjoying yourself," Heimdall said. "As you said, nothing comes between a vampire and his maker."

"Heimdall's adopted though," Lafayette said, because he'd like Eric and Heimdall divided.

Eerily, both Pam and Eric adopted the same predatory smile.

Sensing Lafayette's unease, Heimdall simply said, "I am Eric's maker." He'd rather understand the current situations, rather than having to getting bogged down in the details of his own life.

"You … but he's … so when Sookie told me you were an old vampire, she was telling the truth?"

"When did Sookie tell you that?" Eric demanded.

"When the witches put your lost vampire poster up in Merlotte's. I wondered if Heimdall was okay without you to take care of him."

"He's more than okay," Eric growled. Who did Lafayette think he was? He was paid to shake his ass. Nothing more.

"She told you I was not who I pretend to be?" Heimdall repeated. He was hiding with Eric, while Eric was in danger, witches were actively looking for them, and she blurted out that he was not young and powerless near witnesses? Then he was also targeted, and murdered Lafayette while he was as blank as Eric? Sookie wanted them dead. She had negotiated for pay to keep them safe, and then betrayed them.

He had already been leaning towards a course of action to protect Lafayette, yet Sookie's protection had been a consideration. Heimdall felt he owed her something, yet her actions contradicted his initial impression of the caring woman he thought she was. If she risked Eric's life multiple times, even if it was only through thoughtlessness, Lafayette would not be safe with her around. Heimdall needed to release her.

Standing, Heimdall clearly said, "Sookie Stackhouse is no longer my human."

Eric could sense his maker was angry. A controlled anger.

Lafayette wanted to get past Sookie's loose lips. She blurted out crazy things all the time. Sometimes they were true, so he wanted to revisit that, "Heimdall is Eric's maker? And Eric is over a thousand years old?"

"Yes," Heimdall agreed, resuming his seat, "I am over two thousand."

"What are you doing here?" Lafayette asked. This was Shreveport, and he hated Eric enough that he was glad he was stuck here, but why would Heimdall be here? How old were other vampires in comparison to him?

"I … all that is changed due to you. I believe it best to reassert my authority and my identity in order to protect you. Enemies abound."

"Sookie-" Eric started.

"Not her. I think she's caught up with problems of her own making. I mean the information Compton has gathered for outsiders to target us individually. There's also the possibility witches can move us miles, and unwillingly be thrown into sunlight. The animosity that Russell Edgington has caused. Much is wrong."

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Merlotte's was busy so it wasn't until after the dinner rush that Sam got Sookie with, "How'd it go last night?"

Sookie loaded her tray with mugs of beer and responded, "I'll tell you later." She had to think about how she'd edit it.

Tonight, Arlene was working so Sookie couldn't ask Holly anything. She had thought about asking Holly about witches earlier, but Pam ordered the attack so soon after the witches were at Hadley's. She hadn't been to work till tonight.

Hoyt stopped by to say Jessica would be back tomorrow. Sookie picked up a lot from Hoyt because he was happily excited. He was glad the vampire drama was over, he was glad other vampires would hide Jessica, and he wanted to get home to spend all night on the phone with her.

Sookie stayed with Sam to put the chairs up on the tables for Terry to mop in the morning.

"So, last night?"

"They, or we, won. Hallow was taken prisoner, and Pam made her fix Eric."

"Any sign of Jason?"

"No," Sookie answered sadly. Jason could really be dead.

Lafayette hadn't been at work tonight. Jesus had been the only prisoner they had found, but the witches had already slashed his throat, killing him. Jesus had really made Lafayette happy.

Guiltily, Sookie reminded herself she had been happy with Eric while Jason was missing. It was hard to believe anything serious could happen to her brother. She kept expecting him to walk in any moment and answer her list of questions with a puzzled 'what?'. Jason had always lived a charmed life. Now, he could be lying out there as dead and cold as Debbie Pelt.

Sam asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm better than okay because I got them vampires out of my house," she answered because that was the right thing to say. She certainly was not going to pine over an Eric Northman that didn't exist.

"Has Andy said anything about Jason?"

"He might be right. Andy thinks Jason saw a panther, maybe caught it with his headlights as he was pulling in, ran into the house to get a rifle, and shot it, before following the wounded animal into the woods."

"Andy came up with all that? Why'd he pick a panther out of every kind of wildlife in Lousiaina?"

"There was a bloody paw print on Jason's deck. The lab said it was panther blood."

"When'd you find that out?"

"The morning of the search."

"Why didn't you say something?" Sam asked. Not everyone could read minds.

Sookie looked at Sam. Didn't anybody say something? They had to have to go searching in the woods. Kevin knew they were looking for a panther, and when they found that feral pig, he thought it was unlikely that a panther was going to be found close to that.

"I don't know. Maybe they didn't want a panic, or hunters traipsing all over."

"Hunters might have found something, if it was a real panther."

"What do you mean a real panther?"

"I'm pretty sure a panther does not live around here, but I do know where there's a whole bunch of werepanthers."

"Werepanthers?"

"Yeah, small 'w' when you're speaking to The Weres, as in werewolves. Other were creatures don't like being called shifters, and the real shifters prefer they call themselves something else anyway."

"Where are they?"

"Hot Shot. Let's go, but let me do the talking, if we have anything to talk about. I might be able to catch Jason's scent because werepanthers reek."

Hot Shot. Sookie had never been there, even though it had always been close. She knew from a few customers that that was where people went when they wanted to buy crystal meth.

Sam yelled, "Tommy."

"What?" got yelled back.

"C'mon. We're going to Hot Shot to look for Sookie's brother."

Tommy's face spelled out the way he felt about Hot Shot, which Sookie found amusing because until she knew about the werepanthers, she thought Tommy's parents would fit in just fine in Hot Shot.

Bottom of Form


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Chapter 20**

Eric was depressed. Skinning his maker in the shower to restore his tattoos, and Pam cutting and dying his hair back to its original brunette, and a phone call to Isabel, all meant that Godric was going to leave him to be with Lafayette. The new vampire child Godric had created by accident, but now felt responsible for.

Godric and Eric had been rejoined for less than a year. Worse, his maker's first destination would be Dallas, where he spent years being filled with doubt and almost met the true death.

Frustrated that he could not gracefully change things without disappointing or angering Godric, Eric scribbled a check and went out. He needed answers, good news, or something positive such as the forgotten week of having Sookie every night. Prompt payment of the full amount should get something out of the wench.

She was not home yet. Although Merlotte's and Fangtasia closed at the same time, someone from Bon Temps working at Fangtasia would be home faster. Sam … wait, Merlotte's was that way, yet Sookie was not in that direction. What trouble was that woman getting into now? Knowing Sookie, it wasn't a harmless drive to an all-night business.

Hot Shot? How repulsive. It was one thing for Lafayette to be slumming here, but Sookie had no reason to associate with this ilk.

***** Tru Blood *****

Lafayette lurked in Eric's motherfucking house as Heimdall was made over. It was not only his hair, his skin, meaning his tattoos becoming monochromatic, either. He became an inanimate wax figure of himself. His eyes became distant and unfocused, he minimized his movements, and he was unnaturally quiet till he spoke. It was the same voice, yet it was drained of everything, except a slight accent.

Heimdall, or Godric, now was a vampire. Normally, Lafayette would have a thing for power, but he liked Heimdall. He wanted to show him things, teach him things, and now he felt insignificant. Sure, he could drive and was supposed to learn how to work this Kindle thing Eric gave him with the directions before going out.

Godric told Lafayette that his name changed multiple times. He was Godric for a long time, and wanted to give up his authority because he made mistakes which resulted in deaths. He was unable to do that if he retained his identity.

Now, Lafayette was endangered unless he secured them someplace safe. Eric could keep them safe, yet they were too close to Lafayette's human life, if they remained here.

Many vampires knew him, and would welcome him, but nothing came without a price.

Now that Lafayette had a moment, after playing with Eric's flat screen television, and settled on an old Ray Harryhausen movies, he realized what could have caused the magical feedback among the witches' circle when casting their curse. None of them had any idea who Heimdall was. They didn't even know his motherfucking name. There was a price that needed to be paid when a spell was cast incorrectly with power behind it.

***** Tru Blood *****

Sam thought on the drive down to Hot Shot about why Jason … he was Jason Stackhouse. That meant a woman. If they took Jason because he fancied a Hot Shot girl, Sam would not like it. It was the same as humans hating shifters and weres.

The truck listed as Sam let it roll off the road, creeping into the edge of Hot Shot with his lights out, he hissed, "Stay close to us, Sook."

"What'cha goin' to do?"

"Look around and stay quiet. Panthers are nocturnal. They gotta know they're in the wrong if they have your brother."

Tommy muttered, "I doubt they're willing to turn over a new leaf now."

Sookie wished they stopped at home for her shotgun. If they had Jason here, she'd do what she had to do.

"We'll circle around the outside first, and see what we can see."

Sam, Tommy and Sookie got out of the truck. Sam handed his gun to Sookie, and followed his younger brother and took off his shirt, despite it being January.

Sookie looked away to let them change.

Unlike Sam, Tommy was one mean-looking dog.

Both of them put their noses to the ground and circled around before working together in one direction.

Sookie followed, fingers crossed, hoping no one heard them, and not everyone here was an insomniac werepanther.

Hot Shot was a dump. It looked like half the buildings were assembled out of corrugated metal. Sookie wouldn't be surprised if it was all rust-colored in the daylight.

Sam made a noise, and his tag wagged briefly as he checked out a shed. Tommy circled the building, while Sookie waited with Sam.

"Is it him?" she whispered.

There were a couple of lights on in the closest house, behind their laundry that they left out overnight.

Tommy got his wide snout between the two doors that were held together with a padlocked length of chain. The pit bull rocked between the doors and eventually forced his way in .

Dean looked up at Sookie and bobbed his head.

She got between the doors and pushed her way through, and suspected the push she got was Sam putting his head against her rear. Sookie was dressed in layers, including a winter coat. It was her old one. Her new one was going to get washed next, after she finished getting the stains out of her kitchen curtains.

It was a concrete floor, and Tommy's nails sounded loud as he paced. It stank in here.

There was another low noise, in addition to Tommy clicking. Maybe human.

"Jason?" Sookie hissed.

"Sook?" he moaned. Then more clearly, he asked, "You've come to save me, Sook?"

Tommy growled, and Sookie heard him hit the door hard, trying to get past her.

There was a yelp outside. Sam, Sookie worried, as there was an answering feline snarl, followed by the sound of canine pain. It ended with a loud scream that Sookie could only compare to the time she accidentally slammed Tina's tail in a door.

After a moment of silence, there was a gloopy sound out there, besides Tommy rattling the doors as he pushed out with his muscular shoulders.

"Shifter, you do know your nice doggy look doesn't go far with cats?"

Eric! What was Eric doing here?

"You already owe me from your last emergency. We're going to have to discuss this returning a favor in a hypothetical future where I'd need your help. Here …"

Sookie tried to see what was going on, but wasn't sure she was seeing Sam drinking from Eric's wrist because Sam wouldn't do that, so pushed at the door to wiggle back outside.

"By the way, if you start dancing, I'm going to kill you."

Sam replied, "Thanks, and uh, I won't dance."

"Good dog." Eric looked over, struck a pose of mock surprise, and exclaimed, "Sookie Stackhouse, what are you doing in Hot Shot?"

Sam was a light blotch on the ground in front of a pale enough to be seen in the dark Eric. There was another blotch of something light on the ground.

"My brother's in this shed," she replied.

Eric came over, snapped the chain, opened the doors fully, and said, "So he is. Hm. Apparently he doesn't know the difference between kinky and stupid."

"Eric, he was kidnapped!"

"Now you can afford his ransom," he said, holding out a folded piece of thick paper to her that he took out of his pocket.

"What's this?"

"Your check. I recall you like to be paid immediately."

She took it because she didn't have time for whatever Eric was up to, and asked, "Can you help with Jason?"

"I can't cure that."

"What?" Sookie asked.

Eric audibly sighed, and there was a click as he flipped a switch upward to turn on the fluorescent lighting. The shitty shed was wired with electricity.

"Oh my God!" Sookie yelled, throwing herself onto her brother.

Jason was a mess. He was lying on a small, dirty mattress close to the cold floor, wearing just his jeans, and covered in nasty bite marks, dried blood and goosebumps. His skin was grayish blue from the cold.

"Untie him!"

Rather than pulling on the ropes, since strength would work, yet the rope might be stronger than what it was attached to, Eric bent and broke the supports of the old wrought iron supports of the bed frame. Pulling the rope out of the wounds would be someone else's joy.

"Sook …"

"I got you, Jason. We're gonna get you out of here."

Sam was back on his feet, feeling great after some of Eric's blood. The vampire was right. Vampire blood did not 'cure' weres.

"Let's get out of here," Sam said, moving to help get Jason out of this shed. It would do him a world of good to get warmed up, and they could do that in his truck. They were in werepanther territory, and one of them, Felton, he thought, was now dead.

"Can't Eric give him some blood?"

"I can hear you. Your brother is not dying."

"But didn't you give some to Sam?"

"I suppose he could live with his back broken, but my generosity has been used up tonight."

Eric had to draw the line against handing out his blood. Lost limbs and maiming were good enough, and as he was told so many times, the blood was sacred, so it was his choice. Jason Stackhouse would heal quicker now then before anyway.

He came out to Bon Temps to get something pleasant from Sookie, and instead she wants him to give her V addict brother some blood. Jason Stackhouse was probably here because a drug deal went wrong. What else did someone go to Hot Shot for? Now that Sookie was preoccupied with her hurt, drug-addicted brother, she would have no time for Eric.

Sookie and Sam got Jason up and moving outside towards Sam's truck, with Tommy circling them, when Eric shot upwards and into the sky.

"Eric?" Sookie called when it looked like he had gone without saying good-bye or helping her any. She was so happy she had already decided to have nothing to do with him. He really was an asshole.

On the ride back to Bon Temps, she pleased herself, to try to block out how badly Jason stank now that the heat was on, by thinking that she'd tell Heimdall to go fuck himself too. He was a pain in the ass, blaming her for things Eric did, besides biting her and preferring to walk over riding in her car.

Sam dropped Jason and Sookie at her house, and helped them inside. He told Sookie she could call him anytime tomorrow for a ride to get her car, still in the Merlotte's parking lot.

Jason was still in bad shape, but he was steady enough to stand in the shower by himself.

Afterwards, in Bill's brown bathrobe, Jason explained how Felton would come into the shed every night, change, then bite him. He saw Crystal now and then, but she didn't participate in hurting him. She was sorry that Felton was doing this to him.

When Sookie asked why she didn't go to the police, Jason said something brief about not wanting anyone to get hurt. Sookie realized that Kevin's injury, last year, had been from a werepanther from what Jason was thinking about.

Sookie indignantly said, "Just 'cause they're different doesn't mean they can go hurtin' people."

"Sook, you don't get it. If Felton wasn't killed tonight, he'd heal up and do something terrible. I gotta go back and see if Crystal's okay."

"What?"

"Those people need help."

"Get the fuck out of here."

"Sook, what you said about people being different, not giving them the right, is right, but you're forgiven Bill a lot, even when he almost killed ya."

"You're gonna turn into one of them every month."

"Maybe. Crystal said they wouldn't know till the full moon."

After that, Jason went to bed after Sookie finished using the whole bottle, the huge one from Wal-mart at 98 cents, of hydrogen peroxide, and all her Great Value triple antibiotic ointment, which was just as good as Neosporin.

Jason's bite wounds had been fizzy when she poured on the hydrogen peroxide, and he flinched. That was good, right? The bubbling and pain meant it was killing the germs and maybe whatever else got in there.

After having a cup of coffee, looking at the kitchen curtains, and putting them in the dryer, Sookie hit her coat with more pretreatment before throwing it into the wash to see if the blood would come off that too. She could try sewing up the tear. Why didn't she put on her old coat to go fight witches? It wasn't even a witch that got it, it was Debbie Pelt. She was so happy she was dead so vampires didn't have an excuse to prowl around her house any more.

Ah darn, she was going to have to call the sheriff's office to say Jason was found. Not darn that he was found or that she'd call, but she needed to know what to say, and have Jason give the same story. Since Felton was dead, they should gloss over him because Andy always suspected Jason of doing no good.

When she emptied her pockets, of tips and everything else, Sookie found and remembered Eric gave her a check. Wait, this was for $50,000, instead of $30,000. If he thought she was going to wait on him to write her a check for the right amount, he had another thing coming. She'd take this to the bank, and when it cleared, she'd write him one back for the difference. Sookie didn't have time for his stupid games. She needed this money now.

In the morning, Jason looked somewhat better. He wasn't healed, but the bites all over were not as raised, and the bruising around some was already starting to turn yellow. Jason also needed to shave.

She let him sleep while she made a pot of coffee and cooked breakfast, but then had to wake him because she had to make that call. Sookie brought everything up so he could eat in bed.

"I didn't dream it," Jason murmured as he opened his eyes. "You and Sam saved me."

"Sam's brother, Tommy, was there too, but you might have missed him because he was acting as lookout."

Jason said, "Wait a moment. Bathroom, then I can eat."

Sookie waited, and she couldn't think up any story that would account for everything.

He came back, got into bed, and started eating and drinking coffee.

"Jason, the sheriff's office has been looking for you since you disappeared. What are we gonna tell them?"

"I don't remember?" he suggested.

"You don't remember? You think Andy'll let you get away with that?"

"Is there something I need to include? What kind of evidence did they find?" Jason asked, using some of the police terms he learned during his short stint as a deputy.

"You left your keys in the truck and the truck door open. There was a bloody paw print left in _panther_ blood on your deck."

"Do we gotta explain the blood? I don't want them looking for any panthers. Maybe I heard something when I pulled up, went to look, got hit from behind, and I don't remember anything till I was pushed out onto your lawn last night from a moving car … no, van. Kidnappers use vans. Remember _Silence of the Lambs_?"

"Just don't claim you were helping some guy with a cast on his arm move furniture. Actually, maybe you should keep quiet, and answer anything direct with I don't know. That's frustrate Andy because he won't be able to confuse you."

"I can outthink Andy."

"This ain't about outthinking, Jason. The less you tell him …the safer Hot Shot will be."

"Right."

Sookie couldn't believe Jason would care about anyone in Hot Shot. They were drug dealers and users there, and their kids looked like it too. Being werepanthers was the least of their problems.

She went and called the sheriff's office. Rosie sounded annoyed, till she realized that Sookie was calling with news, rather than asking if there was anything new on her brother. She told Sookie someone would be right over.

Sookie dreaded it would be Andy, but then again, it was real easy to read his mind.

It was acting sheriff Andy Bellefleur who came to the house. He looked serious, and she could tell right away as she answered the door that he expected to hear some crazy whopper of a tale from Jason.

Jason stuck to what they discussed, and the only thing that made Sookie nervous was Andy's odd question about her car.

"Sam drove me home. The battery was dead. He was going to charge it, and asked me to call him when I was up and wanted a ride to it today."

Now, she had to call Sam because Andy was already thinking about calling Sam … who was a nudist? Where did Andy come up with this shit? He was the worst detective ever, especially since he didn't believe a word that Jason and I were telling him. The only thing causing doubt was Jason's obvious injuries.

Once Andy was gone, and Jason dressed, Sookie dropped him off at home, saw him settled and then went to the bank to get Eric's check cleared.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

After Pam left, Lafayette was left alone with Godric. Even wearing his old clothes, he was notably different. Godric sat perfectly still, whereas Heimdall's feet would flex in his sandals, and he would look at things, when he wasn't reading his Kindle.

"Do you use this when you're yourself too?" Lafayette asked, holding up the Kindle.

"Yes." He then added, "I like the feel of paper, yet I read so much that it becomes unmanageable."

"Why did Eric say I needed to learn how to use it?"

"I don't understand when it does not show what I expected."

"I had a phone like that. I had to keep taking the battery and card out which was a motherfucking pain in the ass."

"Your language."

"I hated that phone," Lafayette answered, even though he knew his boy did not like foul language.

"I am not fond of telephones either."

Lafayette saw Eric give Heimdall his phone often enough to know that was the truth. Perhaps much of Godric was still Heimdall.

Moving closer, Lafayette stood close to Godric, looking down on him. Pam did a fine job cutting his hair, if that's what it was supposed to look like. To Lafayette, it was lacking. He touched it, and Godric tilted his face to look up at him. His baby blues were still the same.

"Did you want some more of the synthetic blood?"

"Not really. When do I get the real thing?"

"Soon. You'll have to learn how to control yourself so you do not do any injury. If you think of blood, do your fangs extend?"

Think of blood? The first thought of Tru Blood did nothing, but then thoughts of his maker's sweetness got them out.

Godric stood, and Lafayette remained still as the other touched one and pressed. His finger started to bleed. Lafayette moaned and wrapped his lips around it to not allow a drop to escape.

"If we travel away from people, you could live on this."

"Why would we do that?"

"We might not. I have not decided where we will go after we visit Dallas."

"What'll we do there?"

"We won't have to do much. Just let others talk about my return, and then we'll see."

Godric removed his finger, and Lafayette resisted following it with his mouth.

"I prefer cold," Godric said unexpectedly.

"Will you keep me warm?" Lafayette asked.

"I am the same temperature as you and our surroundings."

Adopting his flirting smile, Lafayette moved into Godric's personal space.

"Ah," Godric said, feeling his child's meaning.

Not hearing 'no', Lafayette put his forearms on Godric's shoulders and leaned his face close to his.

"You'll have urges, yet you should not develop bad habits."

"I wouldn't call you a bad habit."

"You are only attracted to me because you had a large quantity of my blood. As you age, as a vampire, the pull will be less intense."

"I've been attracted to you all along. My hands have already been on your body."

"You are deluding yourself. You have touched me, yet it was not in the way you mean."

"I've thought about you. That's all I could do when I was with someone else, but now it will be you and me."

Not knowing about Jesus' demise, Godric agreed, "It is best to leave your human entanglements behind. I don't understand the new idea of staying close to home and family. The AVL strongly advises against it."

Godric knew that was because eventually the vampire's family would know the truth, if they didn't already, that the vampire was dead. This was not a disease, as publicized.

"And you'll help me with that?" Lafayette lowly asked.

"We will be going to Dallas. I doubt we will return to Louisiana in the near future."

Now, Godric was being purposely annoying, in Lafayette's opinion. His lips pressed against Godric's, and he gave it his all.

Godric remained motionless. Eric would sometimes get ideas in his head, but it was a while before he first attempted this. He always preferred women, so this had not been a problem.

Undeterred, Lafayette unbuttoned the front of Godric's shirt, and traced his finger along his tattoo, and the other circled a flat, hairless nipple.

Sensing that his new child would be at least as persistent as his old one, Godric moved, leaving Lafayette in an awkward position, lips puckered, tongue slightly out, and hands reaching for something that was no longer there.

"You shy?" Lafayette challenged.

"I don't want to take advantage of the way you currently feel."

"You take advantage of me? You come over here, and I'll show you how wrong you are."

Godric's head tilted and he inquired, "Are you making some sort of threat?"

"You so cute. Actually, it's more of a promise."

Lafayette tried the moving vampire fast thing. Since Godric did not react by moving away, his lips resumed their earlier activity, and his arms wrapped around the other to hold his body against his.

Turning his head, Godric warned, "This will end in disappointment."

"Oh no, it won't," Lafayette guaranteed.

"I lack the expected enthusiasm."

"That's because I haven't started yet."

Godric suspected this was one of the few things that would make Lafayette happy. It was his fault that Lafayette was vampire now …

***** Tru Blood *****

When Eric returned home, he found his two house guests downstairs in his bedroom. Something had happened, yet whatever it was it turned out badly for Lafayette. He was kneeling upon the floor, naked, head bowed, hands behind his back.

Godric was lying on his back on the bed, eyes open, looking at the ceiling and was also unclothed. He was matching up memories. Before he lost his memory, during his memory loss, and after his memory loss, in addition to commanding Lafayette to tell him all he knew about the witches, now that he recalled where he found him.

Lafayette wished Hallow was around so he could kill her all over again. This was the worst spell ever if the vampire regained his memory of everything within a day. All he did was repeat some of the things he said to Heimdall last night, because he wanted Godric to know how he felt about him. Everything changed. He had no idea how much control Godric had over him, or even Eric. Did this 'as your maker …' shit work on Eric too? Now there was one motherfucker that needed to kiss some shag carpet.

***** Tru Blood *****

Lafayette's old convertible was parked to the side when Sookie got home from the bank and picking up some groceries.

"Tara?" Sookie shouted in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Where've you been? Why didn't you call me back?"

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but …" Sookie didn't know what to say. So much had happened. She had so much to tell Tara, besides all the voice mails she left.

"What? I'm not welcome here anymore? Rent my room out?"

"Uh, no, I mean yes … Why'd you ask two opposite questions? Come in and I got all your stuff right where it was."

"Good. I was worried I'd have to go to my mama's house to pick things up."

Sookie looked at Tara closely now that she was inside. Besides the new hairstyle, Tara had put on weight. Even her face was rounder.

"What you starin' at?" Tara asked. "Ain't never seen a pregnant woman before?"

"Oh my God! Tara!"

"What? Just 'cause you do it with a dead man don't make you all superior."

"It's not that … I mean .. wh … when?" Sookie has almost slipped and asked the first question in her head – who? It could be Sam. That'd be … something.

"Eggs's the daddy. I had a tough time makin' the decision, with me havin' had vampire blood and all. It could be damaged."

Sookie was shocked. She hadn't thought about that, since she hadn't had much time to think. So much could go wrong with someone taking V, not vampire blood directly from a vampire, which wasn't safe either, like she did. People went crazy, murdered others, committed suicide by accident or on purpose, and then there was everyone that stayed quiet because V was illegal. There was so much unknown about it. There weren't any established studies on V use, so who knew what it could do to unborn children. That would be monstrous. Worse than smoking and drinking. Maybe like an expectant mother who was a crack addict.

"It's the only thing I got left of him," Tara justified, resting her hand protectively on her stomach.

Now that Tara had explained, Sookie realized her friend was carrying more weight towards the front. Tara was bigger all over so it was easy to miss. Sookie guessed that it wasn't due for a while yet because it wasn't that obvious.

"Who knows besides me?" Sookie asked. Sam might be able to tell right away, and leap to the wrong conclusion.

"No one yet. I just got back. If I can't stay here, I was thinking of going over to Lafayette's."

Lafayette? Sookie couldn't imagine Lafayette changing a diaper, though she knew Gran had a pair of purple Playtex gloves, besides the regular yellow ones. She asked, "Your mother?"

"God, no. Like she's a fine example just 'cause she was married. She'd want me to have it, but then give it to fit parents. Probably from that church of hers. It would be the right thing to do if I was livin' with her, but I ain't ever doin' that again. Hey, what happened to the back porch?"

"Oh, a tree fell on it."

"When you gettin' the insurance money to get it fixed? I'm gonna have a lot of laundry."

"Not sure. I can get it fixed before that though because I got a big check."

With Eric's money, Sookie could pay the hospital and doctors, get the porch and window upstairs fixed, and maybe have enough for the next tax bill.

"Win the lottery? I saw the driveway."

"That was … another job I got paid for."

"What sort of job?" Driveways as long as Sookie's weren't cheap.

"I finally found a way to make money with my telepathy, but nothing illegal. I don't do that."

Tara's look said it before she asked, "Vampires?"

"Yes and no. I can't read a vampire's mind."

"But they pay you to read human minds."

"I tell people before I do it," Sookie replied, thinking of the time in Fangtasia. Tara wouldn't understand getting paid for hiding Eric in her house, or sneaking into the Fellowship of the Sun church.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Chapter 21**

It was Eric's turn to stare at the ceiling in thought. Godric had commanded him to tell the truth when he rose this evening. He had checked his words, but he could have unleashed an uncharacteristic outpouring of emotional drivel. As it was, he plainly said 'I want Sookie,' in response to his maker's question.

Godric was resting against Eric's chest, letting him run his fingers through his hair, and his other hand trace the scar on his shoulder.

So far, this January had shown Godric that nothing ever became simpler. Things Godric thought he knew were no longer true. Eric's loss of memory had him say things that were there, yet never said. Godric was a boy, and while someone that Eric respected as a great vampire, would remain a boy forever.

The problem was as a vampire, Godric felt otherwise. Apparently, he did revert to his old vampire self, and knew he had definite plans to kill more once he got over his curiosity regarding the changed world around him. If Lafayette hadn't altered the course of his evening, there would be dead werewolves, the surrounding houses would have been emptied of life as he called inhabitants to the window to glamour and ask entrance, Sookie was a likely mortality because she was disrespectful, even in the bedroom.

It was preferable to not want carnal interaction with anyone because that usually led to ill feelings, except with a handful of vampires. However, Eric reintroduced him to it with new eyes, and now Lafayette, even when forced to speak the truth, claimed he enjoyed Godric's physical form and wanted to worship him every night. That was tempting because although he did not think Lafayette was doing anything differently, the result was far superior to anything Godric had ever felt before.

That led his mental wandering into thoughts of how anything enjoyable was supposed to be wrong. Godric enjoyed blood, especially killing for blood, and killing for fun, and killing for revenge, and killing for perceived insults, and killing to quiet things that were noisy, and killing just because he could. Shreveport was actually lucky that Lafayette did entertain him long enough to divert his attention. He had never wiped out a settlement as large as a modern city, but his younger self would see it as a challenge, until it became boringly repetitious.

Atonement. Penance. Forgiveness. Lafayette was still alive. He was already forgiven since under his maker's command, he revealed he was not involved with the spell cast on Eric, only Heimdall. Since he did not go on a murderous rampage, Godric had the ability to forgive Lafayette, and he did.

The sun was setting. He shifted so his legs were apart enough to clench around Eric's waist. He may have forgiven Lafayette, yet that did not mean Lafayette was in his good graces at the moment.

Lafayette's second night as a vampire began with his new worst nightmare. Godric was on Eric motherfucking Northman, and the two of them were slowly and passionately kissing in a manner that only those who did not breathe could accomplish.

After Godric took his time analyzing his new child's jealousy, he removed his lips from Eric's, rested his cheek against the Viking's, and calmly said, "Eric is still mine too."

What could he say? Lafayette knew he messed up. He attacked his maker in a way that rendered him incapable of making sound decisions, endangered many lives, and spent over a motherfucking hour kneeling on the floor, even after Eric returned to see him. It could be worse, yet Lafayette wanted to make things right between them.

***** Tru Blood *****

Sookie thought about calling out sick so she could spend all night talking to Tara, but Sam didn't deserve that after finding Jason. Tara also said she was tired all the time so wouldn't be staying up late, after complaining about the plywood over her window.

As soon as Eric's check cleared, Sookie was going to get that and the porch fixed. Tara was right. It wasn't safe to do laundry out back, and Sookie didn't want Tara getting hurt. Probably her balance was all out of whack with that extra weight.

At least her overwhelming happiness, clear by her constant smile all night, could be attributed to Jason being found. Tara said no one knew she was back, and no one knew she was pregnant with Eggs's baby yet. It was a big secret, but Sookie was real good at keeping secrets. Being a telepath, it came with the territory.

She raced through her closing chores to fill napkin holders, and was out the door with a cheery 'good night', and on her way home down Hummingbird Lane. Sookie had driven this route hundreds of times, even in the dark.

"Sookie."

"What?" she replied in confusion. Claudine was in the passenger seat while she was driving the car. Doors and windows closed and locked.

"You fell asleep while driving."

"I did?"

"You must be very tired. It is a short trip home for you."

"I am tired," Sookie admitted. She didn't feel like she fell asleep, but they were already at her mailbox and she didn't remember the whole trip.

"Luckily, I was watching out for you."

"Yeah … thanks."

It would be terrible to get into a car accident now. Jason needed her help. Tara needed her help. Sookie was just about to get all her finances straightened out. And she was single and looking. Couldn't forget that. This time she'd call Alcide, instead of waiting for his call.

After parking, Claudine got out of the car with her, and commented, "It is a lovely night tonight."

Copying her, Sookie looked up. It was a cloudless night. Lot of stars.

"Are you awake enough to come look at something with me?" Claudine asked.

Sookie looked towards her house. Only one lamp had been left on in the living room. Tara must have gone to sleep.

"I guess."

"Excellent. I assure you, you will not be disappointed, Sookie."

The two of them walked together into the cemetery. When they got to the place Claudine wanted, she held her hand out that was staring to glow slightly to Sookie.

"Hold my hand."

"Okay," Sookie said, taking Claudine's hand in hers.

The light grew so bright, Sookie could no longer feel the cemetery and felt momentarily weightless.

Sookie arrived with Claudine somewhere wonderful. It was like heaven and maybe … Washington DC, because there were those white columns everywhere, and the people were beautiful, and there were trees with glowing fruit.

"I feel nauseous."

"It will pass," Claudine assured her. To the crowd, she said, "Well done. As you were."

"Are you like the head of the fairies, or something?" Sookie asked, seeing everyone that looked their way go back to what they were doing. It was like a big, pleasant party here.

"Hardly. No, I'm your godmother."

Slowly, Sookie clarified, "I have a fairy godmother?"

"It's not all fun and parties. Some of us have to work."

"Okay, if you're job is to look after me, can I just say you suck. Do you know how many times I could have used a fairy godmother?"

Why hadn't Claudine told her this before. Why hadn't she helped her since they even met? Sookie would have told Heimdall to blow his protection out of his … ear, if Sookie had known Claudine was her real protection.

"You're still alive, aren't you? You're not exactly Miss Trouble Free, you know." Changing the subject, Claudine reached for Sookie's hand and suggested, "Come on, let's enjoy the party."

Sookie looked around. She thought everyone here looked very nice. She guessed the human visitors, and there were a lot of them, were dressed in normal clothes.

One of them looked at her, and called, "Sookie."

"Barry," she replied in recognition. "The bellboy? How long have you been here?"

"We just got here," he said, indicating the gorgeous man next to him, probably a fairy, who had his shirt open. "Can you believe this?"

She nodded. Till Bill told her, she had no idea she was part fairy either.

Barry introduced the man next to him, "This is my fairy godmother, Lloyd."

His voice was deeper than Sookie expected as he said, "Hi." She had been misled because he had a big gold necklace thing on. It was an easy mistake, and who knew what fairies were like?

Conspiratorially, Barry mentioned, "Look at everyone. Do you realize this is the one place in the universe where we're not freaks."

Claudine interrupted with a chuckle, hiding her true feelings, "Well, we're going to get a drink while you two continue chatting." With a parting touch to Sookie, to keep her unsuspecting, Claudine advised, "Mingle."

A fairy woman, holding a beautiful bowl full of fruits from the trees, offered, "Would you like a lumiere? A light fruit."

Barry took one, and so did Sookie.

Not knowing what it would taste like, Sookie looked around. The only people eating them had on normal clothes.

"Barry, hold on a second," she said hesitantly. There may be nothing wrong at all, but it was best to be sure first.

Already having taken a bite, Barry made a noise of pleasure and said, "Whoa, this is like biting into pure happiness. You gotta try this."

Sookie looked around for anything that would reassure her that Barry was going to be all right, that all of them would be all right, and that these fairies weren't bad at all. They were the good guys because they were fairies. Someone couldn't have a bad fairy godmother, just one that was a slacker, like hers.

There was a guy that looked familiar. Sookie barely remembered him, but her grandfather had disappeared years ago, before her parents were caught in that flash flood.

She approached, calling, "Grandaddy?"

He turned, and after giving her a dismissive look before returning his attention to his glowing apple, he said, "Beg your pardon." Not really meaning it as a question, but as a dismissal.

"Grandaddy Earl," she said, getting his attention again because she knew his name. "I'm Sookie."

He studied her, and commented, "I just saw you last week. It was your birthday."

"Grandaddy, that was twenty years ago."

Earl knew he had been here for hours, but twenty years? No, that couldn't be. He had to sit down, and Sookie followed him over to a stone bench.

He shook his head, and said, "Oh my Lord, it's … your grandma, did she pass gentle?"

Not wanting to think about how Gran was murdered, Sookie lied, "It was peaceful. She lived a happy life." That is what she believed. She thought Grandaddy Earl got killed by something in the woods and just hadn't been found. Gran never thought he left her. She just got on with things, and then after her parents died, she didn't have time to wonder too much about what happened to her husband. Things would have been easier if he were there, that's for sure, but it didn't seem to be Grandaddy Earl's fault.

"Mama and daddy, they were in a flood, so I have no idea. I try not to think about it. It's just me and Jason now."

"Twenty years … I can't understand how." He took a watch out of his pocket and exclaimed, "I swear I've only been here a few hours."

"You've been here all this time?" Sookie asked. She thought she understood when she saw him, and he said he only saw her last week, but now it sank in about what Heimdall said about people going with fairies. This is what he tried to save her from. Unlike Grandaddy Earl though, she wasn't going to stay here that long because she had people waiting for … like he did.

"I must'a lost track of time," he explained, starting to tear up at the idea that he missed twenty years. "It's just that everything seems so lovely."

Sookie looked around, because she heard something unusual, and this couldn't be right. Why would Claudine bring her here?

What was that thing, walking through the party? It was not human, or fairy, or vampire, or anything she had seen before. The walls were getting moldy or something, and that light fruit that someone just took out of the bowl was covered in maggots.

They had to get out of here.

She focused on her grandfather and thought, _Grandaddy, can you hear me?_

_Yes. Yes, I can hear you_, he thought back with wonder apparent on his face.

_This is a trap. We need to leave._

"A trap?" someone repeated aloud.

Everyone was looking at them, including Claudine.

A striking woman in a floor length gown came around one of the fruit trees, followed by a couple other fairies, saying, "A trap? The trap is the world you've left behind."

Sookie stood, ready for anything.

"No need to bow, we're all friends here."

Nodding her head slightly, Sookie said, "I'm sorry. I have no idea who you are."

"You can call me Mab. I am the one who sent for you." She stopped in front of Sookie, and almost conversationally asked, like she really was a concerned hostess, "Have you tried a light fruit?"

"I haven't ..."

"They're really very good."

"I not hungry."

"Give it a taste."

Sookie's voice raised to be heard, "I don't want any," and she threw the one she was holding to the pavement.

It turned into gray goo, and Mab's face changed. Her teeth became pointy, like the time Heimdall confronted Claudine in the cemetery, and she hissed.

Mab's tone became demanding, "The future of our kind is in peril. A vampire breached our realm because he had a taste of fairy blood. Your blood. In the Old Kingdom, vampires nearly drank us to extinction and drove us onto this plane."

"Well, it won't happen again," Sookie said shaking her head. "I'm staying away from vampires. I can guar-damn-tee you that."

"Oh, I know," Mab said, her voice roughening to a deeper tone and her face becoming more distorted. "We can't have variants of the fay on the human plane any longer. We sown too many seeds with humans. Now it is time to harvest."

"Harvest?" Sookie repeated. This is what Bill said about fairies raping humans. All the humans that were here had some fairy rape their mama, or grandmama, and now they were going to be the ones to pay? This was bullshit. "You're harvesting people."

"Fruit please," Mab commanded. This was the last one, and she had avoided them by gaining the protection of a very nasty vampire, who's powers canceled theirs out. He even proved himself immune to their scent. They wanted to catch him, torture him and eventually kill him, but the risk was too great. It was safer to round up all their spawn and retreat while tricking the master of shadows with a false treaty.

Fairies grabbed Sookie's arms, and Mab approached her with the glowing fruit. They'd make her consume it, then she could never return to the human plane.

"Get away from me," Sookie screamed.

Insistently, Mab ordered, "Eat this."

Sookie was able to get that light to come out of her hand, and it did something to Mab's appearance before throwing her through the air to land in front of the tree. Everything changed. The fairies, the lovely patio and benches, the trees and fruit. It wasn't nice at all.

Grabbing Earl, Sookie insisted, "Grandaddy, run."

Mab was helped up by some of her fairies, and she called, "Do not let the girl escape."

A fairy threw a ball of light at the fleeing humans, as if it were a grenade. He missed, showering them with sandy soil. More fairies tried, and other people ran, trying to get away. It was too late for them though, because they had all eaten the fruit. They only needed to concern themselves with catching Sookie.

Sookie ran, calling, "Can't you keep up?"

"I'm trying," Earl responded.

"Try harder," she said, as a near explosion knocked both of them off their feet.

Someone grabbed her, helping her up, saying, "Come with us. We can help you."

Struggling, Sookie screamed, "Let me go."

The fairy man, who was pulling at Sookie, was hit with one of the fairy lights and disintegrated into glowing dust motes.

The remaining fairy said, "Do not fear. We can get you home." He looked up and called, "Hold them off. I've got the humans."

He urged Earl and Sookie, "Hurry," as more lights came down from above, preventing their pursuers from catching them.

They raced after the fairy, who once again told them, "This way. Hurry." He led them to the edge of a cliff, and said, "You'll have to jump."

It didn't look right to Sookie. There was no bottom, not that she was taking his word that she should jump off a cliff as the right thing to do.

"What?" she asked. "I don't even know who the hell you are."

"My sister was the one who abducted you because the crown wishes to seal off the human world from fairy forever."

"You don't?" Sookie asked.

"It was once our world too. It is our right to travel there. Have you eaten the light fruit?"

"He has, but not me."

"Then only you can go then."

Sookie looked back over her shoulder at Grandaddy Earl. She had only just been reunited with him.

"Hurry," Claude said, waving at the abyss.

From behind, Mab had gotten up on a precipice and yelled, "Human, do not listen to his lies. Jump and you will die."

She raised her hands and columns of light showed, and the bottomless crevice started to collapse.

"She's closing the portal," Claude warned. "Do you want to go home or not?"

Earl made the decision for both of them. Grabbing his granddaughter, he leaped, taking her with him.

He called, "Sookie," while she screamed as they fell.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Chapter 22**

Lafayette rose alone again. Tonight though, they had somewhere to go. Still, he wished Godric would wait for him. The Lord himself knew that Godric would dress in whatever was laid out for him, and Lafayette's opinion fell on deaf ears, because Godric did not care what he wore.

He thought leaving Shreveport meant getting him away from Eric's influence, and Pam's playing dress-up with him. Now that they were in Dallas, it was worse. They were surrounded by vampires who 'knew' Godric. He was treated with respect, a chair was always saved for him, and he could sit in it all night while these motherfuckers talked quietly around him and to him. And to Lafayette too, who was asked to stand near Godric, in case he needed him. So far, Godric had needed nothing, and Lafayette was offered Tru Blood, and sometimes bagged donor blood.

Lafayette also preferred the hotel, because there Godric would not leave the suite until sunset. They only stayed there a couple days, before the whispered fighting became intense over who should allow Godric to guest in their lair. Eventually, Godric deferred to Isabel, the current sheriff of Dallas who replaced him. It was not until they were in her nest that Lafayette learned they used to be nestmates, and Godric's room had been kept as it was. And the room was a hell of lot smaller than their hotel suite. He also couldn't enjoy the size of the small bed because Godric was not staying in it, other than resting, if he was resting. Lafayette didn't know for sure what Godric did during the day because he was completely oblivious from dawn to dusk.

A small refrigerator and microwave had been brought down so Lafayette could heat up some bagged donor blood, not as good as straight from a human, but infinitely preferable to Tru Blood. He was hungry, and couldn't put off feeding on the chance of meeting a willing human later. Usually the only humans around Godric belonged to another vampire anyway.

Tonight was a sinful waste. Not for him, but Godric. Godric didn't mind where he sat for the night, motionless and hardly speaking. He was here to be seen by vampires, and Lafayette had to admit it worked. They might even get on television tonight. That thought got Lafayette digging through his accessories and cosmetics. Godric and him were the two most beautiful people around.

The door was noisy as it was opened from the outside.

Godric entered and he stopped moving, tilted his head slightly to study his child, but instead of saying something regarding his appearance, stated, "You are up for the evening."

"Sure am, sweet'ums. I suppose that's what you're wearing tonight?"

Lafayette had seen him wear worse in Dallas. At least he wasn't wearing sandals on the god damned sixth of February. He was wearing a pullover sweater that covered all his markings, yet matched those beautiful eyes of his with a gray pair of canvas pants.

"I had asked that I be given clothes in a color that favored neither side."

"You're wearin' Cowboy colors."

"So I am favoring a side with this?" he asked, already turning.

"No, the Cowboys ain't playin' tonight."

Completing his turn so he was facing Lafayette again, Godric asked, "That is good?"

"If you was standin' anywhere but in Dallas, yes."

After a pause, Godric asked, "Am I not dressed appropriately?"

What Lafayette would like to tell Godric was it looked like his mama dressed him, and he didn't mean he had a mama like Ruby Jean either. Isabel was worse than Eric. Unlike her, Eric would let Godric leave the house alone, and didn't plant a big kiss on him that left a lipstick imprint on his cheek.

Lafayette replied, "You're fine."

Taking the opportunity presented, Lafayette went to Godric, put his arms around him, hands firmly on that hard derriere, and kissed his forehead, nose, then his mouth. It wasn't that Godric did anything regarding public displays of affection, it was all the vampire backbiting whispers and laughs that unnerved Lafayette. He was Godric's, Godric was his, and they could all just mind their motherfucking business, instead of tittering about the new vampire and his lack of control.

"I've been told there will be a great deal of traffic."

See? It was things like that that got Lafayette wondering what Godric had rattling around in that head of his. Lafayette barely knew what was happening in his own. He had a dream about Godric and Eric during the past day. They had been dressed up in Nazi uniforms. What kind of motherfucking shit was that? Godric was no Nazi.

Turning away, Lafayette got out his lip gloss and reapplied it to restore the shine, before saying, "I'm ready when you are."

"Thank you. Isabel was concerned."

Lafayette waited till Godric turned to leave the room before rolling his eyes. Isabel probably had a list of people who she'd prefer to stand behind Godric, in case his Kindle went on the blink.

Wait, where was the Kindle? Godric better not be bringing that with him tonight.

The limousine was a nice touch. The Dallas vampires did put on a good face for Godric. Shows and museums were no problem. They even made sure there was room for Lafayette. On most nights, Lafayette would prefer to go out, without anyone but Godric, maybe to a club, go dancing, or to try out whatever vampires did on a night out. Dallas had an active vampire community, but rather than being a member, Godric was more of an attraction.

The humans of the city seemed to have no idea. They even had trouble recognizing a vampire on sight. Lafayette understood that. Until he was vampire, he did not see the slight glow to their skin.

Tonight, there would be a lot of humans. Perhaps he should have had more blood. He shuddered thinking he'd might have to drink a couple of bottles of Tru Blood later.

Godric's hand touched his. They were sitting together in the limousine, along with Isabel, her human, George, and a couple vampires with their humans. In all, they were a party of ten, and others were supposed to meet them at the stadium.

Hopefully, some of them knew something more about football than Godric. It was absurd that people were willing to pay a fortune to go, and here they were, a group of individuals who mostly had no interest in the game that possessed a luxury suite at the stadium. Ruby Jean would call that stinkin' thinkin', and Lafayette had to admit it was good to be enjoying the finer things in life. He already had the car, now he had new clothes, and he was going everywhere with the finest piece of ass he ever laid eyes on. His was close, if you doubted it, you could go to Lafayette's web site and see for yourself. Though Lafayette was definitely the better dancer.

They slowed to a crawl, along with the rest of the traffic, but then their secret weapon came into play. The driver was a vampire, who didn't mind putting down his window and laying on the glamour to get cones moved and waved through to whatever VIP entrance they had.

Lafayette could grow accustomed to living the lifestyle he was always meant to live as they were dropped off, and a staff member showed them to their luxury suite. Wherever Godric and he ended up, Lafayette hoped it was a good city for sports. Despite being gay, Lafayette did not have a thing for musicals, opera or ballet. There had to be some give and take in this, and going to the Super Bowl was a big give, so he'd forgive Godric a couple nights of singing and walking around looking at some old paintings.

There were a couple of people already in the suite, and Lafayette could tell human from vampire easily enough.

An old man, got up, and using a cane, limped over to Godric. Lafayette noticed multiple things wrong with him, like a hearing aid. Another thing wrong was Godric smiled as he held out his hand in response to the man offering his. Vampires didn't do handshakes, and Godric was not much on smiling.

"Where you going to sit?" the man asked.

"Whichever seating is more comfortable for you," Godric responded.

"You're not here to watch the game so I guess sitting up front at the stools by the counter would bore you silly."

Lafayette noticed something familiar about the way this man talked. He spoke with Heimdall's accent. His voice was deeper than Heimdall's.

"I wouldn't keep you from sitting there," Godric replied.

"If I was interested in seeing the Steelers and Packers, I'd watch it from home. This crowd ain't into football."

"No, we're not," Godric said with a smirk, "yet isn't this part of being just like you?"

"Actually, it is, because half these yahoos in these luxury boxes ain't gonna be watchin' it either."

"We should sit," Godric invited, then turned, and introduced, "Dusty, this is Lafayette. Lafayette, this is Dusty."

That didn't tell Lafayette who this was, and he took a seat on Godric's other side, before someone thought they could tell him where to stand tonight.

The game started shortly after that, with Lafayette trying to keep his eye on everyone around them, especially the vampires who came over for a few words with Godric. All Godric needed was a ring for these motherfuckers to kiss.

When the parade had died down, Godric spoke, "You didn't believe Isabel?"

"No," the old man answered.

"Why not?"

"If you were really dead, why would there still be activity on your Amazon account? Two new Kindles, and besides continuing subscriptions, orders for new books."

"Eric?"

"I didn't know he could read."

Lafayette chuckled. This old man had Eric Northman's number.

Godric looked back towards the game, rather than responding to Dusty's taunt.

"You back?" Dusty pressed.

"No."

"Where you going?"

"I don't know."

"Are you saying that because you don't want anyone to know, or you can't decide?"

"I will decide when I feel like it."

"You're getting cantankerous in your old age, Godric."

"No, that isn't it. I cannot be as old as I am in this country without others making demands on my time."

"Then stay here and let Isabel keep running things. She has for years."

"No, that would not be fair to Isabel."

"She misses you."

"You talk too much," Godric said.

"Forced retirement. Now I have nothing to do with my time but talk."

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

"I could still work for you. I don't have much else to do with my day."

"Wouldn't Mel be having children soon?"

Dusty grunted out, "She got divorced."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Give her a job then."

"I am not remaining in Dallas."

"Even more reason to keep me on."

"You've always lived here."

"Do you have somewhere in mind or don't you, 'cause if you do, and just don't want to say that it's somewhere where you think I can't handle it, say so."

"No, I might travel for a while first."

"Are you going to tell me?" Lafayette asked.

Godric's face turned in his direction, and with a slight smile, he responded, "Maybe."

It was a good thing that Godric waited till later to tell Lafayette that he was considering revisiting Iceland because there was only a short list of places that Lafayette didn't want to go to, and now Iceland was one of them.

While they were gone, Godric was going to let Eric handle the bidding war on securing Godric's residence in a particular state. News of his return would spread, monarchs would be interested in knowing where he was going, where he would reside, and if he would be assuming a role as someone's sheriff or a member of their court.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Sookie was on her back. The sky above was a nice blue, and had only a smattering of wispy clouds.

It felt like she fell far, but she was alive and unhurt.

She sat up. The ground was a hard, packed earth. Kind of a sandy color, and dusty, with scrub-type plants, rather than what she was used to seeing in Louisiana. They didn't end up in Bon Temps Cemetery, that's for darned sure.

"Grandaddy, do you think we were tricked into jumping?"

"No, Sookie, I don't think so. I think you were right 'bout that bein' a trap there. Here? Couldn't say, but there's a castle."

Sookie turned to look behind her, and there was a castle amongst green grass, and with a lot of piled rock behind it. Like someone set it up to be a postcard picture.

She looked at her grandfather and grew alarmed.

He was staring at his hand. It had a bit of glow to it, then it started flaking away as a golden dust.

"What's happening?"

"I ate the fruit."

"What does that mean?"

"I can't come back here."

"No!"

The glowing disintegration sped up, and Sookie tried to get hold of her grandfather to stop it. This was so unfair. Fairies kidnapped him when she was a child, everyone thought he either ran out on Gran, or got killed while traipsing through the woods.

"I love you, Sookie. Take care."

"No! Grandaddy!"

There was nothing left. Not even his clothes.

***** Tru Blood *****

Tara was tending bar at Merlotte's while Benedict was at the church-run infant care. She only worked the lunch shift because a regular babysitter was too much money at night, and she sure as hell wasn't trusting her mother.

When the phone rang, she let it, then got annoyed and answered it with an irritated tone, "Merlotte's."

A female voice said, "If you accept a collect call from …" there was a pause, then a familiar voice said, "Sookie Stackhouse," some silence then "press the pound or hash key."

"If this is someone playin' a fuckin' joke, you don't want me to find you," Tara swore as she hit the button on the lower right.

"Hello?" she challenged.

"Tara?"

"Yeah."

"I need help," Sookie declared.

"Where you at?"

"California. In Antelope Valley."

"What the fuck you doin' in California? What's wrong with you?"

"I didn't mean to end up here. I was at home, then there were these fairies, and I ended up here."

"Is that supposed to sum up six months of your life? You didn't go getting' pregnant too, did ya?"

"No!"

Tara asked, "You really in California?"

"Yeah, or I think so."

"Girl, what's wrong with you?"

"I can't explain it in only a few words, Tara. I'm here, without ID, without money, without anything."

"Sounds like you're fucked. Hey, if you're close to Los Angeles, and maybe if you're not, Lafayette's living out there now."

She read off a phone number, and Sookie said, "Wait, I need something to write with …"

Shit. She leaned down, letting the mouthpiece of the phone twist away and upwards, while listening and yelled, "Say it slow."

Sookie fingered the number in the dusty dirt. Lafayette didn't have a local area code any more, or at least local to Bon Temps.

Standing, while also keeping guard over the number, Sookie asked, "Did he come out here to start acting or something?"

"That might have been what he was tellin' himself, but I had to box up some of his shit and mail it out to him. Hold on … I got an address too. I had them pick it up here 'cause I can't be waiting all afternoon for UPS."

Sookie heard the phone put down, and waited, listening to the noises of home. If she was near Lafayette, that was such a relief. She had no idea what she was going to do. She would've had to have found a Wal-mart or somewhere with Western Union and asked for people, or Jason, to send her money. Sam would have been a last resort, but at least she didn't have to go into a lengthy fairy explanation with him.

Tara picked up the phone and asked, "You ready?"

Sookie leaned over again and yelled, "Yeah."

She almost laughed when she heard the address. Knowing Lafayette he probably picked the place because it was on Mount Olympus Drive.

"So Lafayette has your number?"

"Yeah, not like he ever calls it if he doesn't need something. Fine time for him to have some sort of midlife crisis and run out when I need him."

"When'd he go?"

"He must'a left Bon Temps, the day or the day before I got back. Then you picked up and left too."

"I didn't mean to, Tara. I … it's something like a vampire, but in prettier packaging. Oh wait, vampires are kinda pretty too. Anyway, it's dangerous. And tell Sam to help you watch out for fairies in the cemetery. He knows what they are."

"I don't talk that sort of shit with Sam. I don't wanna talk about that kind of shit with anyone. Why couldn't they have grabbed Bill Compton's ass instead of yours?"

"My cousin, Hadley, owns his house now."

"Well he's still living in it, and he comes in here all the time for Tru Blood. I fixed it so we only got A negative all the time, and unplugged the microwave. But he musta done that eye thing with Andy because he don't get asked what happened to you. Jason gets asked more questions about you disappearin'."

"Wait, when you said six months, did you mean you, or I've been gone six months?"

"You," Tara answered, then added, "Uh, no, Benedict's six months, so you've been gone closer to nine."

"Holy shit! If I see Claudine or Mab or any of them, I'm gonna make them pay."

"Do I need to hear about your crazy problems? No. I gave you what you need to try to get home. Call me again if Lafayette is a dick. The least he should do is let you have a place to sleep and take a shower till we can figure out how to get you what you need to get home. You do wanna come home, right?"

"Of course. I ain't all Hollywood like Lafayette."

"I'm not sure he's gone Hollywood. I think he's a kept man, and his sugar daddy's getting him into the Super Bowl and the NBA finals. He's living the life he's always fantasized he deserves. Lousy piece of shit."

"Do you know that for sure?"

"That he went to the big ass championship games? Yeah, he went. I think Lafayette would do anything … as in anything with anybody no matter how nasty, and I bet he's white."

"Who?"

"Whoever Lafayette's sucking off and bending over for."

"Uh …I should try calling Lafayette," Sookie thought that sort of stuff should remain private. If Lafayette was happy, she could be happy for him. Maybe after Jesus, Lafayette couldn't handle any more heartbreak and was filling his time with this mystery man that Tara could totally be making up.

Sookie would rather believe two people were together for love, but it was painful when only one person was left. Very painful. In Lafayette's case, it was an untimely death, and in her case, it was due to a big liar, and then she lied to herself and let her hopes get the better of her when she knew what Eric was really like.

"You do that, and remind him where he comes from."

"Right," Sookie answered, more to appease Tara then any plan of hers to embarrass Lafayette.

After she hung up with Tara, she tried calling Lafayette collect. That got her nowhere since his phone went to voice mail.

She hung out near the pay phone, and found a scrap of paper and borrowed a pen to copy Lafayette's information down. While she waited to try another collect call, she imagined Lafayette had his phone turned off because he was at an audition for something … something huge. He could be the next Ru … Denzel … no, he could be the next Brad Pitt. He got a lot of money every movie.

Once Sookie found out that she was close to Los Angeles, which highway and direction it was in, she tried to hitchhike. It seemed a lot easier in the movies. First off, she wasn't going to get in the car with someone that was thinking nasty things, and secondly, it seemed that the lofty sounding address Tara gave her on Mount Olympus Drive was in a well-known, expensive section of the city so it was also not well-traveled.

It took Sookie hours to get close, hitching rides like she was playing golf, till she she was looking at a sign that said Mount Olympus and noticed that it really was an uphill street. Majorly uphill with a lot of property around the houses, something she hadn't expected in a big city. She was in good shape so started out climbing, while sticking her thumb out as she heard cars approaching from behind.

All the cars were new and expensive that traveled this road. If it wasn't daylight, Sookie would think some of them were vampires. They were the new rich in America. Not all of them were, but they exuded enough confidence that most Americans thought they were.

Her long walk gave Sookie time to think that Tara was probably right about some things. Lafayette couldn't afford to live around here, so the 'sugar daddy' theory was a likely explanation.

Gosh, they took their Mount Olympus theme seriously. There were white buildings, columns, and statues. These were people's homes, not a theme park.

Sookie was passed by a small pick-up truck going in the other, or downhill, direction, that U-turned and came back uphill to take a better look at the wind-blown blond wearing a coat. Some people might like wearing a jacket in this weather, but a coat was out of place around here, especially one that worn.

It pulled up alongside her, yellow lights flashing, and the passenger window went down. The security guard asked, "May I help you?"

"Oh, could you?" Sookie responded in relief and gave the address, which at the rate things were going, might be at the top.

"Did your car break down?"

"No, I was walking there because my friend lives there." Sookie registered that this fellow had noticed her accent. He didn't give off any sort of hate and idiot hick vibe, but he was looking her over.

"Do you know the homeowner's name? I can call the office, and they have the contact information for the homeowners' association."

"My friend's Lafayette Reynolds, but he don't live here all the time. He's from Louisiana, like me."

He responded, "Hold on a minute," and the window next to her went up, before he used his radio.

Sookie found the information he gave, and even his thoughts, to be appropriate and professional. She had always heard people in California were a bunch of liberal kooks who had a cause for everything from ending whale hunting to legalizing marijuana.

She already knew what he was going to say before the window rolled back down, but didn't understand it, as he said, "Someone's heading down to pick you up."

He hadn't asked her name, but Lafayette must have gotten her phone message and knew she was trying to get to him.

"Thanks. Thank you very much. I was afraid I'd be walking for hours."

The wait grew to minutes, with the truck idling beside her, and the occasional, uphill car going around it. The security guard was filling out something on a clipboard. He referred to it in his mind as an incident report.

Sookie eyed the vehicles going downhill expectantly. Were sunglasses a required item for driving in Los Angeles? Every driver wore them.

A shiny, four-door Jeep with a Texas license plate slowed even further as it came out of the curve.

Lafayette was not driving. It was a woman with black hair, almost as black as her sunglasses. Before turning around, she put on her hazard blinkers, and then parked behind the security vehicle.

The security guard got out of the truck, the woman got out of the Jeep, and Sookie went between the vehicles to participate in their conversation.

Sookie got a clear notion from this woman that she was all wrong. Why, wasn't clear. Just wrong. Way wrong … and complaints were going to be made? Huh? Sookie figured she must be thinking about something other than her.

"She gave the name Lafayette Reynolds," the guard was saying to her. Sookie really had to learn to pay attention to the real conversation better.

Even with the big sunglasses, the woman's face glared at her as she bitingly said, "You walk to all your appointments?"

"I don't have a car."

"Are you some kind of crackhead?"

"No! I'm a friend of Lafayette's."

"You're being paid, and not being paid to be a friend." Sookie was going to ask paid for what, when the woman continued talking, "Get in the Jeep."

Sookie got in, knowing which way they should be heading. This woman was really ticked off, and Sookie wouldn't accept a ride from her normally, but it was a long day so far, and she was tired of walking.

She decided to use her Southern charm. Sookie was grateful for the ride, so said, "I'm real glad you could give me a lift."

"Don't take jobs that you can't easily get to."

"I think there's been a mistake. I'm not here about a job."

"If time wasn't an issue, I would have told you to turn right around, missy."

"Look, I don't need a job, I just need help getting home. Lafayette's my friend, and if he needs help with something, he can count on me."

"Did you meet him at a party?"

"No, his cousin's been my best friend forever."

"Whose cousin?"

"Lafayette's."

"Maybe you better shut up about your fantasies. You can use the shower out back by the pool to clean up. Don't go making a mess, and try to limit yourself to one towel, whackadoo."

Why was the woman treating her like she was crazy for claiming to be friends with Lafayette? His car was here, and it was definitely his because it still had the Louisiana license plate.

"When can I see Lafayette? I'm sure he can clear all this up for you."

The woman turned to look at her, then said, "You spend all day talking to him, like old girlfriends?"

"No, I mean if you tell him it's Sookie Stackhouse, he's gonna know me."

"Nice name," was the sarcastic reply. She pointed, "Round that way is the pools. There's a shower, and a cabinet with towels. Don't make a mess."

"I don't wanna go swimming."

"Good, because I don't want you dirtying any of the pools."

Sookie didn't want to take a shower, but simply wanted to get away from this woman because she was such a bitch. She'd find Lafayette on her own.

She went around the outside of the house, in the direction she was told. Shit. If the 'sugar daddy' theory was correct, Lafayette's man was loaded. There wasn't one pool, but two pools, a hot tub and waterfalls, with a shitload of columns, statues, and tall, skinny evergreens in between.

The view was incredible because they were close to the top of the hill, but that's not what she was here for.

Okay, who was here? Besides that gardener slowly sweeping up after he gave some bushes a trim. He wasn't thinking anything Sookie could understand anyway.

Crap. There was a vampire nearby. Sookie found that the only thing that made a sort of empty space for a mind was a vampire. There were two, she thought.

Was Lafayette here against his will, or was he glamoured? He hated Eric. If she could find him, Sookie would be able to tell because glamoured people sounded like they were asleep.

There was someone whose leg was hurting, was enjoying a cold beer, and watching the People's Court. Sookie waited, but all she gained was information regarding the current trial. The person, probably male, didn't think anything. Unbelievable. Someone that thought less than Jason.

She found bitch woman. She was angry and on the phone yelling about getting things straight because of how much they were paid. They claimed they were running a professional service, and that's how … Melissa … wanted it. Oh, this really was about Sookie, even though Sookie didn't work for whoever. Melissa was going off about discrete, and she was walking up the street … after getting dropped off at the bottom of the hill by her pimp!

Bitch had another thing coming if she was saying Sookie looked like a prostitute. Wait, did she just think or say that Sookie looked like a homeless junkie and reeked like one too? All she was missing was a shopping cart full of trash?

Where the fuck was Lafayette so she could get out of here with him?


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Chapter 23**

Godric was resting when something disturbed him. A nudge at this mind as his connection with Sookie Stackhouse was reestablished.

This was worse than before. He was in California and could feel her return to the real world (as far as he was concerned) this strongly? Distance and time usually dampened the maelstrom of foreign feelings assaulting him, except in Klaus' case.

Sookie's initial fright was replaced with intense sadness and also anger. In time, confusion was added to it.

Both Eric and he were quick to notice when she disappeared. It was as if she was simply gone, without the pain of someone dying. It had only been a day since Godric had released her, yet knowing Sookie, they were not surprised that she took no heed of their warnings regarding fairies. Eric had been disappointed because he perpetually thought good things about that woman. He would be heartened to feel that she returned to this realm unusually fast.

Godric spent some time curled up against Lafayette's body as he felt Sookie's irritation. The numbers changed on the large digital clock Lafayette insisted upon. Measuring time in such a manner was odd. The sun set and the sun rose, and everything else was in between as day or night.

Isabel, and also Stan, kept time for him in Dallas. Godric understood things were supposed to happen either tonight, tomorrow, or after that. After that had some order. If one believed as Eric, Ragnorak would occur and restart time. Lafayette believed time would end sometimes. His views changed with his mood.

When Lafayette was happy, and Godric could easily accomplish that by acceding to Lafayette's desire for sex, his child spoke of 'forever'. Of course, Lafayette was too young, and his forever was not Godric's forever. Lafayette's ardor would fade.

After this long, Godric knew the fault lay within him. He enjoyed solitude. Long nights of doing nothing. If possible, he could lie in the earth, wake, continue to lie, and return to rest, while trying to quiet his mind. As Socrates said, _I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance._

He still tested Socrates on _worthless people live only to eat and drink, people of worth eat and drink to live_. Godric used to only live to feed and kill, and even he'd admit he was worthless, without having so many others label him so. Could he become of a person of worth? After so long, he doubted it. The Christian idea of forgiveness … no, don't think about that again. It began a flawed cycle of repetitious, flawed thinking.

Lafayette at rest provided no comfort for the turmoil Sookie unleashed on him so Godric rose, showered, and dressed. His child would be cross with him, but he was not in the mood to soothe him when he, himself, was so unsettled.

There was a room upstairs that he enjoyed with a noisy water fountain with a bamboo balance, and a bed of sand with lines raked across it. When he received this house, the others wanted to change it, but he asked that room be left as it was. Unfortunately, the upper part of the house had walls of glass, so he could not go upstairs and kneel there to stop everything in his head. Conversely, at night that room was lovely because a glass panel opened so he could have outdoor air and night noises.

After asking Mel, he then had to ask Dusty for crickets to be placed outside. He was interested in nocturnal birds, but didn't know their names in English. Mel was supposed to be working on that, but her one offer of peacocks was ridiculous. They made a horrible noise.

He wished Mel would handle her tasks more like Dusty. Dusty did not have many questions, and it would be done. If it couldn't be done, Dusty offered alternatives. It wasn't important as long as he had Dusty. Either Mel would learn, or she'd be given other things to do.

Godric remembered he was supposed to not think, especially if it was negatively about someone or something. He sat and waited for the sun to set.

***** Tru Blood *****

Sookie knew something was happening. Whoever Melanie was yelling at told her he just got a text from the man who had been given the job. Whoever was at the hosue now, did not work for their company.

That made sense to Sookie because she never claimed to be anything more than Lafayette's friend, and she wanted to see him.

Melanie's thoughts turned to her father, and became indistinct. Just the feeling that he would handle it.

Sookie tried the doors while circling outside, while seeking Lafayette with her mind. Maybe he got hired to cook, and Tara was blowing this out of proportion.

Getting back to the parking area, she confirmed Lafayette's car was still here, bitch's jeep, and a Cadillac, also with a Texas license plate. There was more parking, empty now, and a landscaping company truck.

Reaching the front door, Sookie used the knocker hoping someone normal would answer so she could see Lafayette and find out why he was here.

There was only decorative glass blocks to one side of the door, so Sookie saw nothing till a man opened it. She thought she had seen him somewhere before. An old man, with a lined face, especially around the eyes, wearing a cowboy hat, boots, and a long sleeve, mild plaid shirted tucked into his belted blue jeans.

Dusty shifted his cane, keeping his gun where the woman couldn't see it through the door. He knew this person. This was the woman from the Hotel Carmilla, that had been at Godric's house the night the Fellowship blew it up.

Sookie was evidently surprised. This was something new. The man saw her. Plain and simple. Reading his mind was like looking at a mirror. There were not thoughts for her to read, and there was sure to be some because she looked terrible. Maybe she was mistaken and hadn't met this man before. She'd remember something like this.

"Well?" he asked.

"I'm lookin' for Lafayette."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm a friend of his."

"That's not who you were with last we met," Dusty replied, trying to shake her. This woman could be Fellowship. He heard about that list of vampires. Lafayette wasn't a great target, but he'd be an easy one. Could even use him for bait to lure Godric into something, since blowing him up didn't work on the Fellowship's last try. Newlins knew he was the vampire sheriff of Dallas, and now that he was back and becoming more public, it would hurt their foaming at the mouth tirade if some normal vampires were seen.

Sookie admitted, "You look familiar, but I don't …"

"Dallas."

Duh. Sookie could have guessed the only place in Texas she'd ever been to. Still nothing in his head.

Melanie was close, because Sookie knew that she saw her, and she had a rifle. What the fuck?

"Listen, I'm Sookie Stackhouse, and I'm from Bon Temps, and so's Lafayette. If Lafayette's here, you can ask him."

Dusty stepped back from the door, letting the gun show, saying, "You keep saying that but there's no way we can know that, as I'm sure you know too. Come in. Shut the door behind you … lock it, and move over into that room there, up the stairs with the gray carpet."

"You're making a big mistake," Sookie protested.

"Perhaps, but it won't be long before we know. Have a seat."

It was a large room, designed for entertaining. There was a wall of window, showing off the view, with some landscaping and one of the waterfalls framing it. There was a deck, could it be made of stone, or was it one of those fancy paints disguising it? On it was stacked furniture, waiting for a crowd.

Inside, there was plenty of seating, mostly facing towards the center, with some pieces back-to-back to face the gray stone fireplace or the windows.

The slate floor had primary-colored throw rugs in geometric patterns, that might have been too much if the furniture wasn't gray and ivory, with occasional tables of iron.

There was something out of place. On a loveseat towards the corner where the stone wall met the glass doors was a colorful, crocheted afghan, folded over the back. When Tara was spouting off about her cousin, she said he asked her to send his afghans. At the time, it hadn't seemed important because Tara said Lafayette paid for the shipping, and also sent a couple presents for Benedict. There was no reason to suspect this was a prisoner scenario when she was talking to Tara.

Sookie took a seat on one of the sofas.

Dusty sat down across from her, still betraying nothing with his thoughts.

"May I have a drink of water please?" Sookie asked. "I did a lot of walking today."

Dusty's faded blue eyes met hers, then moved beyond her as he said, "Plastic cup."

Sookie said, "You don't have to keep a gun on me."

"I don't know you. I've seen you, and considering it was before a terrorist bombing, I think I'll play it safe."

Sookie tried to place him at Godric's. She might have been so busy trying to ask Bill where he was that she missed him. That didn't seem right though. Who was this? Was he a member of the Fellowship church and trying to trick her by calling Steve Newlin's heinous act a terrorist bombing?

Melissa's thought that _dad still misses Stan_ was no help … wait, … was this Stan's human? Or was Melissa? What were they doing with Lafayette? Stan would have slaughtered a whole church full of people if Godric hadn't stopped him.

_Be dark soon_, was Melissa's contribution as she put down a red Solo cup on the coffee table in front of Sookie.

If there were vampires like Stan here, Lafayette and her had to get the hell out.

Sookie picked up the cup. She was thirsty. There was even ice in it.

There was a loud knocking at the front door.

"Oh," Melissa said aloud, and put her rifle at her father's feet before going to answer it.

Dusty put a finger to his lips and said, "That's not who you're waiting for."

Sookie listened, and the "Hey!" falsetto greeting was about ten shades of rainbow gayer than Lafayette.

"Come in," said Melissa in a totally different voice than the one Sookie had heard so far. "There's a room down here where I can look at your papers, have you sign, and then you can relax with television, music, or there's wireless if you have something to do online."

"Yeah, I left early 'cause some of these streets are an absolute maze when coming from Laurel Canyon. My GPS got stolen. Would you believe it?"

Sookie concentrated. Butch? Butch? He sure didn't sound like a Butch. Anyway, 'Butch' was happy for the work, wanted to do a good job, and keep coming back here because whatever he was doing paid well enough that he could afford where he was living and gas and more acting lessons. Butch wasn't thinking about what the work was. It was 'the job'. The job paid $500. No sex. Huh? What?

She looked at Dusty. Still no clue from him.

Melanie was not within sight, but Sookie could read her mind. She was looking at papers and filling something out but her mind was on Sookie and her father, and that it would be dark soon.

Sookie realized she might have nothing to worry about. She couldn't be glamoured, could fake it, find Lafayette, and then they could get out of here in his car. Simpler than saving Bill's ass.

***** Tru Blood *****

When Lafayette's eyes opened, he saw Godric sitting, dressed and motionless, looking toward a religious icon of the Virgin Mary, rather than him.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked.

"I'm troubled," Godric replied, not looking at him still.

This would not do, Lafayette thought to himself. He wanted to rise with Godric still on the bed, he could be reading, but waiting for him unclothed. Something about this boy not wearing clothes thrilled Lafayette. After that first night waking up naked, Lafayette usually wore a robe of some sort, he had about a dozen, new silk ones, and Godric didn't mind.

What Lafayette did mind was something bothering his man. He wanted all his troubles out of the way so they could concentrate on what was important – them. If the vampire king of California didn't throw an oil tanker of money and this sweet house at them, Lafayette would have been in favor of his boy doing something else than listening to this pack of whiny assed bitches as their new sheriff of Los Angeles. However, this was the kind of shit Lafayette had been talking about ever since he could look at pictures in a magazine while his mama got her hair done. House, clothes, cars and a man to keep him happy.

He even got motherfucking blood donors in thirty minutes of less here. Godric did set a limit of five a month, with bagged blood and bottles of gak! synthetic. If Lafayette was a good boy, he could usually wheedle a couple more donor visits. Bad, less, and really bad, a diet of Tru Blood for nights in a row. Fortunately, Godric was hard to piss off. Lafayette had to be a royal brat and interfere in official business, which he was allowed to watch while sitting next to his sheriff. He scored a sort of assistant position since Godric did not like being burdened with remembering appointments.

Godric first, then tonight's donor.

Lafayette got up, went to his boy and put his hands on either side of his face to direct his gaze at Lafayette's own face, and he suggested, "Swim, followed by one of my all night massages?"

He knew his boy liked swimming, and if he swam too, he'd eventually get him out of the water to slide down the one waterfall that was practical enough to fit his rear end and play around in the secluded spots in the bushes.

"I don't think so."

Lafayette did not like that sad look. He leaned down, putting his forehead against Godric's and asked again, "What's wrong, baby? I want to make it go away."

"No, it's my fault. Don't …" Godric sighed, then continued, "I should not share my blood."

"Who you go givin' it to 'sides Sookie?"

"Only Miss Stackhouse. She has been quiet for many days so I was caught unawares."

"Bitch should try takin' a Zoloft," Lafayette quipped automatically. He recalled how Heimdall reacted fter he gave Sookie his blood to save her life. Lafayette was happy she was alive, yet there had to be a better way than this.

"It's not her fault. I've explained it to her, but she can't help feeling what she feels. She is alive. It has been years since I've shared my blood with a mortal. I remember the intensity."

Lafayette's only warning was Godric started breathing, before blood started leaking for the corners of his eyes.

"Shit. Sookie dyin' or something?"

"No … she's irritated. I think reading minds makes her impatient with others. Apologies," he said, raising his hand to his face, to have it caught between Lafayette's. He kissed his maker's face, licking his sweet blood off. "My last companion, not entirely human, was well–suited to me."

"Why didn't you turn him?" Lafayette lowly asked, jealous.

"It wouldn't be right. Like me, he was not smart. We enjoyed our simplicity together."

Lafayette pulled back and stood. Godric was anything but simple. Godric had a humility that was motherfucking aggravating at times. In Heimdall, it was fine, but Godric was Godric.

"Again, I'm sorry. I need time to reacquaint myself with feelings like hers."

"So when Eric fixed my leg with his blood, he went home crying?"

"Hardly, and I've asked you to be tolerant and respectful of Eric and Pam."

"They're easy to tolerate a thousand miles away. Tell me more about doing this blood thing. I want to learn vampire things from you, papi."

"You need to show restraint. The blood is sacred."

Lafayette nodded, he heard that a few times already.

"I should not command you to give it unwillingly, so that means no one else can either."

"Why did Eric share his with me and Sookie?"

"Eric and I are different. We can both feel Sookie, but I'm not able to quiet her when I need to do something else."

Lafayette wasn't interested in throwing himself a pity party every time someone else thought they were having a life crisis. Thoughts of Sookie also brought to mind his cousin, and her best friend, Tara. Those two had more drama than he ever did.

He hated Eggs. Now Tara was his baby mama. If he wasn't dead, Lafayette would kill him. It still gnawed at him that Godric firmly advised him to send a gift for the mewling bastard. His reasoning was correct. Tara now had a short life. It was petty to waste the time she had left in discord. He tried to restrict his communication to text because all that hooker wanted to bitch about was her little cracked egg.

Godric didn't care about his family in a personal way. Ruby Jean's bills were paid, but when Lafayette visited her to tell her he was going away, she lit into him and Godric that they were sinners, and although Jesus hadn't been black, Godric was some depraved white devil getting his taste of jungle fever. Lafayette hoped most of the insults went over his head. The truth was Lafayette was seducing him, not the other way around.

He had attempted to find out more about Godric, now that there was nothing that could be worse than having a crazy mama committed to a home. His maker's brief remark that he didn't have a mother because he was a slave was disturbing. Godric then followed that with he had no family till Eric. That might go a ways towards understanding Godric, but as Lafayette quickly realized, vampires were not people. Eddie was still human because he was living the same life. The rest of them were something else, especially in Los Angeles. What they didn't realize is in a room full of attention hogs, someone like Godric, sitting quietly, got the spotlight. He was the ring master in the middle of their three ring circus.

It was Godric's turn to stroke his hand soothingly, as he said, "Let go of the hate, Lafayette. Eric and you will know each other for many years."

He laughed in response. Eric? He was so over that motherfucker. Lafayette was here, with Godric, and things were good. Motherfucking good, so Eric could just suck it, bitch.

"You need to feed," Godric said.

"I have a donor tonight. Wanna share?"

"No, thank you. I'm not hungry," he replied, standing.

Lafayette could see Godric looked very vampire-like, unlike Heimdall, who had bottles of shit put in front of him all the time. Since turning him, Lafayette had not seen his maker imbibe anything.

It worried him enough to exchange texts with Eric.

Before he left, Lafayette reminded him, "You have one of those video conferences in two hours."

"With who?"

"It's Thursday, professor."

Godric's nose scrunched in annoyance at the false title.

***** Tru Blood *****

Melanie came back, picked up her rifle, and said, "I'm gonna start dinner. No one's coming tonight, are they?"

"No," Dusty answered, then added, "besides the uninvited Miss Stackhouse."

"I tried calling Lafayette, 'cause I could'a used a ride, but he didn't answer, so I hitchhiked."

Since she was looking right at the man, Sookie noticed Dusty didn't look sympathetic. Any normal person would know how hard it was to walk up that street outside.

"Get the panel on your way past. I'll handle the front door for now," Dusty said. Since the two of them lived here, they had to invite vampires in for the evening. If they came after they went to bed, they could sit outside and talk to Godric, or bring a human with them. They hardly ever got to do any rescinding when the vampire was here. Usually Godric told them loudly to do it, so they wouldn't blame Dusty or Mel, as Godric's good little humans doing as he said. Los Angeles vampires were as dumb as they came. You'd think in Hollywood you wouldn't find this level of gullibility.

There was a cool, discolored hand lying atop his holding the gun. Godric was open for business, and apparently he got away from Lafayette wearing a plain, linen guayabera.

"You have come to see me, Miss Stackhouse?" This explained why he felt her so strongly. Godric had been under the impression she did not like him so had not expected to see her again.

"What are you doin' here?" Sookie asked. Then realized who this was in front of her, "Wait, you're the guy who brought him clothes at the hotel. Why don't you think?"

"What do you wish me to give thought to?" Godric asked as he took his usual seat in the corner.

Ignoring the crazy woman, Dusty looked at Godric and said, "She was at the bottom of the street when their roving patrol stopper her, and she gave Lafayette's name and address, so we thought she was here for his appointment, who turned up later. Should I call the police?"

Sookie glared at the old man. Police? What for? What an asshole. She repeated what she had been saying all day, "I'm here to see Lafayette."

"No, don't bother with the police," Godric responded. He found Sookie to be as confusing as before.

He turned to look out the window to gather his thoughts, and to try to block out her feelings. Was she angry at him? No, it didn't matter. Sookie was always angry.

When he was alone with Lafayette they turned this piece of furniture so they could look out over the city, and his child liked wrapping them in the this blanket together. They also could go out on the balcony, if the stars and moon were favorable.

Nothing could be favorable now that Sookie Stackhouse was here, buzzing in his head, wanting to see Lafayette, and wearing her clothing from the smelly bar along with the old, stained coat he bought a replacement for.

Getting up, Dusty said, "I'm gonna eat," and left.

"Where's Lafayette? Why did you bring him here, Heimdall?"

"Godric."

"I don't care about your fucking name games. Where's Lafayette If you're hurt him, I swear I'll get even with you," she said, standing, and getting closer to him.

"He is currently busy. Lafayette will be in here soon, and then you can talk to him."

Godric left Sookie alone. She turned around, and felt he really left the room, rather than doing some stupid vampire trick and sticking himself to the ceiling or something else stupid.

What the fuck was going on here? He was back to being Godric, after all his carrying on not to tell anyone, and he had to atone or something because Steve Newlin was an asshole. So his being in Shreveport and playing games with Eric was a total waste of time, which would be their business if they hadn't dragged Sookie into it with their werewolves, witches and fairies. Or Bill. Bill was partially responsible for the werewolves. And Sookie guessed the fairies started their own shit with kidnapping Grandaddy Earl.

Lafayette though, he didn't need all their vampire games. He could come home with Sookie, and everything would be fine.

Why was Godric in Los Angeles? And why with Lafayette? Was Lafayette even here to become an actor? Who was the other vampire in this house? Was Lafayette really here, because she couldn't sense his mind, and didn't find anyone that was unaccounted for, even sleeping. Sookie didn't think Godric would lie and answer that Lafayette was busy if he wasn't here.

Sookie unfolded and refolded the afghan. It was the acrylic yarn that Gran got at Wal-mart, and was even a stitch Gran did, with the black and white stripes, with a third colorful stripe in each repeat. Gran had made a few of these when the Descendants of the Glorious Dead had a craft show fundraiser. That might have been to buy frames for some shoeboxes of old photos that had been donated.

She heard Lafayette before she saw him. He was calling, "Homeboy, I got an idea. Why don't we … Sook, what choo doin' here?"

Sookie's eyes popped and her lower jaw dropped. Lafayette's skin had a glow to it. He was a vampire. That was the only obvious change, except that the change of air must agree with him because he was looking more … more … more glamorous than he had before. Lafayette wasn't noticeably paler like white vampires.

Her mind raced, and immediately discarded the first idea that Godric had turned Lafayette. Like a mother with the colicky baby from hell after being in labor for a week, Sookie was sure Godric never wanted another vampire child after Eric.

"What the fuck?" was what came out of her mouth. She couldn't decide if it was something Lafayette impetuously did, or if another vampire turned Lafayette, and Godric stepped in to save him from someone like Lorena … or Bill. Jesus' death must have hit him very hard.

"That's a hell of a hello, bee-yatch. What are you doin' here? Tara send you because she's got a twenty pound barnacle attached to her tittie?"

"Does Tara know you're a vampire?"

"Hell no," Lafayette answered. "Bon Temps is in my rearview mirror, till you jumped out in the middle of my road."

Lafayette had been getting closer, since Sookie already knew he was a vampire when some unexplainable reflex made his fangs snap to attention. Something smelled good. Lip smacking, finger licking good.

He just ate and was now salivating over Sookie? This wasn't right.

Sookie cringed. She knew she smelled good to vampires.

"Hold on," Lafayette said, and disappeared.

He found Godric in the zen garden room, or what Lafayette called a waste of space.

Kneeling beside him, he started with, "Master?" Lafayette smirked while saying it. If Tara was here, she'd try to slap the both of them silly.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to bite Sookie."

"Did you?" Godric asked.

"No."

"I didn't think you did, because she hates that."

"The way she smells is ..."

"Indescribably tasty?"

"Sort of."

"Her blood tastes … oh, when I see the bubbles in the champagne glasses, that's what I think of. Little things in my mouth. You should avoid tasting something like that till later. It could be addictive, then you'll do things to keep tasting it."

"If her blood is better, why did you let her go?" Lafayette asked, relieved with the discovery that Godric would only want Sookie for her blood.

"She's not bottled blood that I could keep in the refrigerator, and microwave when I'm hungry. Some vampires keep humans as prisoners. You and I do not. With us, it is their choice."

"Is Sookie angry that I'm a vampire?"

Godric answered, "She's been angry much of the time here so I can't tell specifically what it is."

"What does she want?"

"She said she came to speak to you."

"So I guess I still need to speak to her. Come back with me. With her smelling like that, I could do … something." Lafayette had seen Eric rip a person apart. He knew he wasn't that strong, yet there were times he got impulses that weren't him.

"Lafayette, you do recall that I've asked you to think of something unpleasant when you have urges, such as draining someone till they are dead?"

"That's the strange thing. When I think of cootchie, I also think with that smell, Sookie's might not be so bad."

Godric nodded in response. He expected Lafayette's preferences to change over time. It was probably accelerated due to his monogamous relationship with Godric, and with Lafayette wanting sexual contact multiple times a night, it had to be boring for him.

Seeing Godric's face go blank, Lafayette started teasing his lips with his own. Again, Godric mentally took a rest in the middle of a conversation. Lafayette didn't think it was entirely due to age, yet he was no expert. He couldn't even imagine living past one hundred yet.

He had seen Eric, and to a lesser degree Pam, do it, but they were not engaged in doing something. Godric, or Heimdall, would stop and stand or sit in eerie stillness, unless something prodded him to rejoin Lafayette here and now.

Seconds passed before Godric's head turned minutely and his eyes focused.

"Are you worried, my child?"

Lafayette smirked. He found the 'my child' amusing any time.

"We will ask Miss Stackhouse the reason of her visit, and attempt to hasten her on her way," Godric said.

"What if she wants to move in?" Lafayette teased.

"Why would she?"

"That was a joke."

As a response, Lafayette got the eye flicker as Godric looked him up and down, studying him. It was doubtful he could tell more about Lafayette than Lafayette could tell about him. He questioned it all, when he was feeling thoughtful. Godric was his maker, his lover, his protector, his provider of food, clothes, money and shelter, and maybe his boss if he was paid in room and board. He was wonderful to look at, especially without a stitch on, made intoxicating little noises when aroused, and was sometimes maddening with the amount of tension he let build before indulging in Lafayette's continued seduction.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Sookie's nerves had calmed, and she was pacing when Godric and Lafayette entered the room holding hands.

"I'm sorry to intrude on your discussion with Lafayette, Miss Stackhouse, yet he is concerned for your safety. Please be seated."

Sookie wanted to talk to Godric too because he knew something about fairies. Since they went to the loveseat with the afghan, Sookie perched herself on one of the chairs close to them.

"I didn't know you'd be here. I came out of the fairy … lands here, instead of at home so I called Merlotte's collect because that's a number I knew, and Tara answered, told me I was gone for months when only minutes passed for me, and once I told her I was stranded in California, gave me Lafayette's phone number and new address."

Lafayette thought of a few things to call Tara, but he really was the closest person Sookie knew. He had no idea what she was saying about Fairyland, unless that was some euphemism for Los Angeles or California.

Godric prompted, "What do you need from us, Miss Stackhouse?" He heard the word 'stranded', but to automatically interpret that with needing help may not be right with Sookie.

"What do I need? I need to get home. I don't have my purse so can't even get on a plane without my ID, and I don't have any money on me or a cell phone."

Lafayette gestured with a hand and asked, "How am I supposed to help with that? Can Tara fedex what'cha need?"

"I guess. I'll have to call her."

"Here," Lafayette said, taking out his cell phone, "but don't go blabbin' 'bout my life style change. Bad enough she thinks I'm livin' with someone white."

Annoyed that Lafayette was unnecessarily bringing race into the conversation, Sookie pointed out, "Tara lives with me, and I'm white."

"Since when does a hooker think it's okay for others to do as they do, instead of do as they say? Next you'll be suggestin' you two get it on."

"Don't you go talkin' nasty to me, Lafayette Reynolds."

Lafayette hit the keys to dial Tara, and handed his phone to Sookie.

Tara answered, "Lafayette? I tried to get you earlier, why don't you .."

"It's me, Tara. I'm at Lafayette's. I don't remember if I left my pocketbook in my car."

"Yeah, you did. That's why we thought you were snatched but anyone that said it close to Vampire Bill, since he was the number one suspect, forgot they was thinkin' that, so that stopped Andy from investigatin'. They think you're off doin' some vampire shit."

"What? Vampires had nothin' to do with me disappearin'."

"They been lookin' you in the eye, Sook?"

"No, that don't work on me. I don't have any identification. Can you send me my wallet by Fed Ex or something?"

"Yeah, I s'pose. You need money?"

"Uh ..." Sookie saw Godric shaking his head 'no', "... no."

"Lafayette's suddenly got money? I should'a been suspicious when I got nice presents for Benedict."

Lafayette let go of Godric's hand and slapped him on the shoulder. They were very nice and appropriate gifts, without a trace of sequins, feathers or pink, and included a card and a generous savings bond. If Tara believed that shit was from him, she'd believe he was here to help out the Tea Party Republicans. Melanie handled his 'human matters', besides his donor orders.

Dusty handled Godric's requests, like buying a bucket of live crickets, in addition to making sure everything for the house was paid.

"You know what a hard worker Lafayette is. He had three jobs before," Sookie argued, in order to hide that Lafayette was now vampire wealthy.

"He didn't go to LA for a job. He's a man whore. I bet some old, fat, hairy, white guy has him suckin' his dick."

Godric's finger was on Lafayette's lips.

"He's helpin' me out, Tara," Sookie protested.

"I'll try to get your things together and sent out tomorrow or the next day. I'll text Lafayette when it's shipped."

"Thanks, Tara."

"Just get your ass back home safe."

"I will. Bye."

Sookie looked at Lafayette's phone, and he held his hand out. She gave it to him, and he hit a button.

Looking at Godric, his maker gently said, "You've told me your cousin angers easily and is very insulting. I believe you called her a 'hater'. You don't need to respond in kind."

"You ain't fat nor hairy," Lafayette mulishly responded. He wanted to say so much to Tara in response to her words, but as Godric said, answering with his own insults wouldn't do anything except validate Tara's opinion of him in her own mind.

Sookie wasn't sure what vibe she was picking up from them, since they were both vampire. Godric's request for Lafayette not to insult Tara back could be simply Godric, rather than a concern specifically for Lafayette, and they could have been holding hands because Lafayette was frightened of doing vampire things that came natural.

She heard the front door, then voices, before Godric asked, "You'll be with Miss Stackhouse while I'm questioned?"

"Now that I've thought about it, Sookie does smell good, yet what I said before kind of grosses me out. Sookie can watch T.V. or something if you want me to be with you."

"I'll be fine."

"What kind of questions?" Sookie asked.

"Godric noticed one of the labels was wrong at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and got fuckin' volunteered to answer questions by the AVL. He's got a weekly conference with whoever they invite to talk to him from museums and schools."

Sookie made a face and asked, "What?"

Knowing his limitations, and that Sookie was quick to point them out, Godric explained, "I am old enough to have seen things that have been forgotten. Nothing more."

"Yeah," Lafayette laughed, "he spends half the call politely saying 'how the fuck would I know'?"

"Some of those questions are quite convoluted," Godric reminded him.

"They're lucky you know a lot of English words from all your reading." To Sookie, he said, "I haven't heard of half their shit, and they got these mile long questions written out in advance to read to him 'cause they're 'bout ready to wet themselves over the chance to ask them."

"Like history?" Sookie asked, catching on. She had known vampires could be a valuable resource to people interested in the past, like Bill was to Gran's group.

"Yes, but I am limited in what I know. I do also clarify if it is something I have direct knowledge of, or it is something I heard from someone else."

"We got a room set up with equipment like our own studio because Godric likes video conferencing," Lafayette said, standing up. "I still think we could jazz it up more, papi."

"I don't like unnecessary things surrounding me."

"A better chair at least?" Lafayette pushed. Some of the other vampires had their ugly asses on thrones.

Godric gave his head a little shake. Keeping things simple, especially with vampires who noticed details, kept him free from senseless conflict. The flamboyance of Lafayette, Lamar, and Los Angeles belonged outside of the square picture of himself on the monitor screen.

"Are you hungry?" Godric asked, also standing.

"Yeah, but you don't like the smell?"

"The kitchen and dining area are separated from this part of the house. I rarely smell anything."

"Unless Dusty's been drinking," Lafayette muttered. There was history there, and he saw the two of them. There was something about the smell of beer, now very keen to Lafayette's nose, that got a response out of Godric. He'd touch Dusty's hand or arm, and Dusty sometimes returned the gesture. Lafayette knew Dusty was not a touch-feely sort of guy, and Godric had asked him to not PDA in front of the human staff. When he didn't take that to heart, because Lafayette didn't give a shit if they were homophobic, as in 'I'm queer, I'm here, get over it', Godric did that command thing.

Not liking the look Godric just gave him, Lafayette said, "I'll show you the kitchen, Sook. I still like the smell of cooking."

The kitchen was bigger than Eric's, and looked like a set for a movie or television show. There was even a second sink in the island counter with a cooktop without the oven underneath.

Mel said, "Damn, you're right again." She was by the main sink.

"Told ya," Dusty said around a toothpick in the corner of his mouth from his seat at the head of the kitchen table, facing another wall of glass and a great view. His pilsner glass was a third full. He was no longer wearing his hat to cover his cropped, almost white hair. It was on a small table by the doorway into the room.

Going to one of the wall ovens, she opened it, took out a plate with a pot holder, and put it on the table. "There you go. You can pick out what you want to drink from the refrigerator."

Mel continued moving, getting flatware and a napkin, and took a drinking glass out of a cabinet and put it on the counter next to the huge, stainless steel refrigerator before leaving the room.

"You knew I'd be having dinner here?" Sookie asked.

"Sort of," he said, more to the ceiling, as he played with the toothpick.

Sookie opened the right side of the refrigerator, noticed it was spacious, well-stocked, but not full, with the top shelf having bottles of Tru Blood lined up like soldiers. She chose a brown glass bottle of root beer. After putting some ice in the glass, she brought both to the table, and sat in front of the plate with a breaded pork chop, green beans and applesauce for dinner.

Lafayette sat down across from Sookie, saying, "I guess I ain't cookin' tonight."

The pork chop was not as good as Gran's, and the beans were seasoned with something other than butter, but Sookie found it to be a great meal after her long day.

"Why are you here in Los Angeles, Lafayette?"

"The vampire king here wanted Godric something bad. Gave him this house as a present," he bragged.

"I think a better term would be signing bonus," Dusty commented. He knew that Godric's tithe was a fraction of what it was in Texas, and there was more income, and all these vampires were giving him gifts to sweeten up the new guy. Eric did a fine job brokering the deal. Godric was richer than ever, and still had a limited concept of what was going on since he asked if he could afford crickets for outside. He had all these immortal creatures that thought they were so smart and wise fooled. It cracked him up.

"But Godric was fired from his job in Dallas," Sookie said, knowing it was a fact because she had been there.

"He told me," Lafayette replied, not sure if Sookie was trying to make some sort of point, or wanted to dish dirt.

"But why are _you_ here, Lafayette?"

In a serious tone of voice, that Lafayette rarely used, he responded, "Because I followed my heart, instead of my brain." One of Godric's rules was to sound regretful that he was vampire, even if he wasn't the slightest bit sorry … except about Jesus. He loved Jesus. That was different than Godric, but he was sure he loved them both … and his mama and Tara too, if someone tortured it out of him. He'd probably keep up on finding out about the little bastard too because it was family.

Sookie responded, "I guess it's good you're with Godric then." Out of the vampires she knew, Godric and Eric, and Eric and Pam, seemed like close pairs. Bill's relationships with Lorena, Jessica, those three psychos, and even Eric, made it seem like vampires needed space to live and hunt alone. Solitary, territorial, jealous creatures, who when combined, like the nasty nest from Monroe, operated with a pack mentality.

"Better than good," Lafayette offered, back to his normal way of speaking.

Sookie didn't understand Lafayette's answer. Was Godric not a total jerk to other vampires?

While Dusty tilted his glass upwards to finish his beer, Lafayette asked, "Can Sookie hang with you for a bit?"

"Why? I was going to watch television."

Lafayette said, "All you do is watch television."

"What's your point?"

"I think you could do something different with your time."

"I will. Got tickets to go see the _Price is Right_. Maybe I'll win something."

"I thought you were going on _Let's Make a Deal_," Lafayette said.

"Next month. Got to think of something to wear."

"Because being a cowboy is too much like your day job?"

"I wouldn't be making comments 'bout how a man's clothed, if I were you."

"You sayin' I don't dress like a man?"

"No, maybe if you wore those earrings that look like a pair of satellite dishes, you'd hear me better."

Lafayette huffed as his retort would not come out of his mouth. His fingertip tapped the table a couple of times before he said, "You know what I want to say, don't you?"

Dusty chuckled, then said, "Gotta play by the rules."

He had heard Godric command Lafayette not to refer to Dusty's infirmities. Dusty could take it and dish it out, so it wasn't necessary, but it was fun to see Lafayette come to an abrupt halt with all his yakking.

"Maybe I can go with you?" Sookie asked Lafayette.

"I'm not goin' anywhere. Just watchin' Godric." He knew Sookie did not get along with his maker, besides whatever was going on in his head due to Godric saving her life.

"Okay."

"You can't go sayin' things when everything's turned on. I don't so you don't."

"I'm not stupid," Sookie replied.

"I'm just sayin' that because we'll have to leave, if he wants us to."

Godric was sitting in a plain looking chair at a table with a small camera amongst a bunch of flat screen monitors, and small speakers. Behind him, there was an AVL banner on the wall, and a lean vampire in black leaned over him and switched his gaze from Godric to a monitor. He unbuttoned another button of Godric's shirt, and exposed more of the pectoral tattoo, while folding back Godric's shirt neatly.

Lafayette steered Sookie to the other side of the room. They would be in front of Godric, behind the table and monitors, where there were chairs against the wall, below a brief sign 'Act Human'.

In the corner, a human was at a laptop computer on a desk, who said, "They've logged in and waiting."

The nameless vampire got out of the way, and after glancing across the room at them, Godric nodded.

There were other monitors mounted on the wall, and Sookie could see Godric, as the camera saw him, on another was a group of people at a table with lots of paper, and then a third showed a drawing of a plant.

An obvious red light lit on the top of the camera, Godric blinked twice, slightly opened his mouth to visibly take a breath, and then shifted his eyes from side to said. On him, it looked odd, but Sookie thought it would make him more human looking if his skin wasn't glowing, to her eyes.

"Hello?" a male voice asked.

"Yes," Godric replied, then asked, "Would you prefer I said the stereotypical 'good evening'?" He had changed his voice to sound out the last two words dramatically, like he was in an old vampire movie.

There was responding laughter, then someone asked, "Your name is Godric?"

"I will answer to that. Please ask your questions."

"You look younger than we expected. What age were you when you were infected?"

"I know not. This conference has a time limit, and you've been asked to expedite matter by forgoing introductions. Rather than asking about me, you had other questions?"

"Yes …" there was a pause, before the speaker emphasized, "… you are European and very old?"

"Yes, I am. Please begin."

"Here at Yale, we have possession of the Voynich manuscript. Have you heard of it?"

"No."

"It did not receive that name till the last century, so if you could please look at the page from the herbal text, can you identify the language it is written in?"

The third screen's magnification changed to focus on the text.

Godric leaned forward, his eyes visibly moved, then he said, "No. Do you have an example of this spoken? I am not educated in all alphabets."

"We only have the documents. Perhaps …" there was some hand waving on their screen, and a white-gloved hand appeared on the book's screen, removed it, and another book was shown, with an odd drawing of seven naked women in an enclosure with a tube coming out of it, " … you've seen something like this before?"

Godric visibly breathed again before asking, "In modern art? What is the age of this document?"

"Estimated to be from the early 15th century."

Lafayette rolled his eyes. Godric did not understand numbered centuries, and it was understandable because 15th meant the 1400s.

The other vampire in the room said, "Gregory XII and Martin V."

Godric shook his head negatively and said, "I do not recognize the illustration or writing."

There was a discussion among the people at the other location, and another book was put in the viewing area.

"I truly do not know this," Godric said. "I can only provide answers based on my limited knowledge. Please introduce another subject."

There were a couple of lengthy questions read that Godric listened to while resting his chin, then his forehead, on his hand while propping his elbow on the table. He answered both with 'no'.

"What about Atlantis?"

"I have no answers regarding that," Godric replied, as a dispute erupted amongst the scholars. It sounded like it was an unscheduled question.

"Don't you have an opinion on it, Godric?"

"My opinion? I may be a contemporary of Plato, yet I was not in Greece nor did I read _Critias _or_Timaeus _till much later. Till then, I knew nothing of a great naval power which ruled much territory thousands of years prior to the Empire. I am not from a culture of classical antiquity so I did not learn what they knew till much later, and that was an abbreviated version of their knowledge."

"You don't think it was Helike?"

"Helike is on Peloponnese. Atlantis was said to be beyond the Pillars of Hercules. They are completely different."

"Plato could have used Helike and called it Atlantis."

"If you are suggesting Atlantis is fiction, why are we discussing it?"

"Is that what you believe?"

"I have no proof one way or another," Godric said.

"Have you met older vampires who talked of Atlantis?"

"No."

"Are there older vampires?"

"Of course. I am not the first person with this affliction."

"Can I speak to them?"

"I can only speak for myself."

The lean vampire in black moved into the frame, and said, "Please confine your questions to historical curiosities. The American Vampire League is pleased that Godric chose to move to the United States, and that he is willing to share what he's experienced firsthand."

That got the folks from Yale back on track, and Godric was able to answer some of their queries with more than a 'yes' or 'no'.

None of it was about American history so Sookie had little idea what they were discussing. It sounded like they were making some stuff up. She had heard of Russia, but never Prussia.

She was tired. Today, she had gone to work at Merlotte's, after taking Jason home – oh gosh, she hadn't even asked Tara about Jason. Could she even ask Tara if he was a werepanther? Tomorrow. Right now, she needed sleep. It was as if she was up for two days straight, besides walking all over earlier today.

When Godric was done, and the red light was out, Sookie lowly told Lafayette, "I'm sorry to be a party pooper, but I'm really tired."

"Can you sleep in a vampire room? We don't have a spare bedroom upstairs that's used as a guest room. They're repurposed, like this room."

"What's different about a vampire room?" Sookie asked, remembering Eric's bedroom.

"No windows, and the door's thick. There's a bed, and the toilets are in the bathrooms because it's always possible they travel with a human."

"A change of clothing too," Godric suggested. Besides the stink of fairy that Lafayette had trouble with, there was still the smell of Sookie's workplace.

"From where?" Lafayette asked.

"She can wear mine."

"Maybe … maybe not," Lafayette responded, because Sookie had curves where his boy thankfully didn't, then said, "or something of mine. I can at least loan you a robe."

Godric nodded and asked, "Can you please see to it? I've been hearing vampires enter the house. I will meet now with them."

"Eric wants you to call him," Lafayette said. He got a text while Godric was getting questioned.

"When Miss Stackhouse is settled, and after I am finished with my subordinates."

As they were leaving the conference room, the AVL vampire asked, "What's that smell?"

Godric answered, while shifting to get between the other vampire and Sookie and Lafayette, "Lafayette has been mixing some products. It's still a work in progress."

"It's appealing, but there's a foul undertone you need to weed out." The vampire visibly inhaled. "It's sort of a garlic-soaked piece of pig flesh … and I think I can smell the apple that was in its mouth while it roasted. An odd thing to want to smell of."

"I didn't ask you for no opinion," Lafayette said, and for emphasis snapped his fingers dismissively.

"My real opinion is Godric needs to feed. You don't look boyish like this."

"I am vampire, not a boy," Godric replied, as he herded the others before him, out of the room.

"Should'a let me pick your clothes for tonight," Lafayette murmured.

"I can dress myself, underling."

They crossed through the gray and ivory room, and there were three vampires in it. Seeing them, Sookie thought Lafayette must be right at home here, or was miffed that he was no longer different.

There was a low greeting of 'sheriff', and nodded heads as Godric sat in the same seat as before.

She followed Lafayette down the stairs who muttered something about bitches, and then down some more stairs. He typed a long series of numbers, then opened a heavy, dull steel door.

This was Lafayette's room, Sookie could see that right away. His religious statues and pictures from home were on display, the sumptuous bed was covered in a mixture of satin, velvet, silk and fur in shades of purple, lavender, blue and periwinkle, with pillows and more pillows with tassles and trim, and sheer fabric hanging from an ornate metal circle suspended from the ceiling. There were also little lamps with different colored bulbs, some still on.

There was also an interruption to Lafayette's decadent layout with a desk with cubbies on top with a laptop, printer, and charging stations for a phone, and since it was still there, also a kindle, like Godric's.

"Let's see," Lafayette said, more to himself, turning on the closet light. "Take this robe," he said, Handing over a cream, silky satin with navy blue accents.

Sookie was still blinking at the light hitting all of Lafayette's wardrobe at once. There was a lot of clothes and accessories, all neatly sorted. He had to have at least fifty belts, and there was a set of tiered bars displaying scarves. Shoes and boots were lined up neatly, with steps to show the ones in the back more clearly. There was a slotted foam tray full of rings, and necklaces and bracelets were hanging from a multi-armed tree.

It was like Lafayette had his own store in here. Sookie frowned as she noticed an out of place, sedate side section in an alcove with a couple pairs of smaller sandals in front of some boots she'd seen before on Heimdall's feet, beneath some calm-colored clothing and Heimdall's cargo shorts. Godric sharing space, closet and bedroom, was different with Lafayette than sharing with Eric, who only had the one vampire bedroom.

"What are you doing with Godric? He's straight."

"Maybe I turned him," Lafayette teased.

"Godric's … you have to be careful, he's got problems," Sookie said from firsthand experience. If anything happened to Godric, Eric would kill Lafayette.

"Don't we all? Why do you pick on him, the way you do? You ain't so smart. You didn't go to college. You got no P H D after your name, or any other letters."

"That's not what I mean. He's suicidal. That's why Eric brought him to Shreveport. He was standing on a hotel roof at dawn saying he had lived too long."

Lafayette didn't want to hear this kind of shit. Eric was a pain in his ass with the do's and don'ts of Godric. Like that motherfucker could have a friend outside of Pam. Godric could be pleasant to anyone, yet he was now his, and he didn't need all this extra bullshit messing things up.

"Take the robe, and come on. You're not getting him back so save your breath."

"Back? I … there was … you have no idea how difficult he is."

"That's not the Godric I know," Lafayette growled, leading the way to another dull, steel door. "This room here, there's a bed, and whatever. You throw this lever, and the bars sink into the wall to lock it. Good night."

"Why are you angry at me? I'm only trying to tell you that Godric might act nice sometimes, but he's got a mean streak," Sookie said.

"Because right now, Godric's upstairs feeling this fight, when there's no need for it. I am here with Godric. I am happy. Cue moonrise and fade out. You were one line in the preface, hooker. Get over it."

Lafayette was delusional. Sookie couldn't stay in Los Angeles and sort out Godric's problems. She couldn't do it in Louisiana, and she needed to get home. Hopefully when she was rested and feeling better tomorrow night, she could convince Lafayette to leave Godric and come home with he so Sookie could help Tara and Jason, and do something about those fairies kidnapping her and killing her grandfather.

Annoyed, she answered, "Keep him!"


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

**Still Involved**

**Chapter 24**

Lafayette didn't like the way he felt after walking away from Sookie. She sounded like Tara, pushing everyone away. Sometimes, Tara could speak the brutal truth, but Sookie's view of vampires from how wonderful Bill was to how messed up Godric was, was wrong.

Lafayette lived with Godric, and was with him for many hours each night. He had been in relationships where he reluctantly did things to please his partner, but that wasn't the case with Godric. Everything he did to please Godric, Lafayette wanted to do, and it was his idea. Godric asked for very little, and Lafayette sometimes couldn't help the salty words that came out of his mouth. This goddamned world was full of motherfuckers.

Godric wanted him to keep in touch with his family, and Lafayette understood what he was saying. With his lifespan being increased, they would pass by quickly, and it would be too late later to get it back. Considering Tara and Sookie had been best friends forever, Sookie could be counted as family, but you didn't show up on a bitch's doorstep asking for help, and then look down your nose at how he lived. What else could he have said to that hooker? She didn't deserve an explanation. He was gay. He was vampire. And tough shit if she couldn't live with the fact that he was happy, with someone he loved, and they weren't suffering for anything.

Seeing his maker's eyes focus on him was all he needed to lift him up. He joined Godric, who was now alone. Usually he let the simpering whiners carry on for a bit, steering them with a few questions to come up with their own answers and solutions, if not, he'd tell them what to do. A modern day Solomon because vampires were conceited idiots.

"You okay?" Lafayette asked, as he sat beside Godric and took his hand. Lafayette didn't need his hand held, but he suspected Godric liked it. Godric was reluctant to say what he liked about anything but art, and he could find something nice to say about a waist-deep, pile of elephant shit.

There was a slow nod as Godric said softly, "If we had known Miss Stackhouse would be visiting us, a room could have been prepared to her liking."

Things about Godric made Lafayette happy. It is what he saw in Heimdall. He didn't go to the mean choice, he looked for the simple, usually innocent, explanation. Of course, Sookie would be upset over her room, not hop on her broom over _their _bedroom, which his maker called their resting place. It's not as if Lafayette left a half-full gallon jug of lube out, or a pile of sex toys.

He was in the midst of reminiscing on his nights playing with Godric, that Lafayette almost missed what Godric said next.

"We will have to do better for when your cousin visits. That will not be till the child is older?"

"Tara hates California."

"Was her last visit unpleasant?" Godric asked.

"She ain't never been here."

Lafayette added a further explanation when he saw Godric didn't understand, "She doesn't like the people. They've got sun, the beach, mountains, big houses, new cars, go on all the game shows they want … wait, that's Dusty, if Tara knew they took most contestants from locals she'd shit a brick."

Slowly, because he was still thinking, Godric said, "I don't believe that's true … about the houses and cars. Dusty's ability to get free tickets does not seem odd since he can go any day."

"Forget Dusty. Tara doesn't like Californians, and that governor election they had with hundreds of candidates only proves it."

"Weren't those candidates exercising their rights, as Americans and residents of this state?"

"You've never heard California called the land of fruits and nuts?"

Godric admitted, "It is a bountiful place."

"Fruits is another word for gays, and I think you know nuts is people that are crazy."

"Ah, a pun. I understand."

"And Tara doesn't like actors tellin' us what we should care about."

Lafayette added more when Godric was silent, and said, "Haven't you noticed that? During an awards show they'll say something like 'free Tibet'?"

"Why would anyone but the Chinese government be opposed to that? They are even restricting what foreign press can report on."

"I don't mean Tibet itself, but how actors use their celebrity to support a cause."

"If it's a terrible cause, then they run the risk of becoming unpopular, and if they support every cause, then their message is diluted."

"Never mind," Lafayette said. It would take a long time for him to explain to Godric Tara's way of thinking. She was a hater, and haters needed to keep adding to their list of things to hate. If Sookie wanted to be Tara's soul sister and show her solidarity by hating the same things Tara did, fine. They could grow into two toothless old crones, spewing their acid, while their darling, little Benedict supported them, unless he turned gay too.

Godric watched Lafayette laugh to himself. His child had a lot of funny thoughts.

Lafayette sobered as he remembered, "You still need to call Eric?"

"Yes, can we do it with video?"

"I'll text him to see if he can set it up on his end."

Lafayette already had his phone out to send the message. He knew Godric liked to see who he was speaking to. Lafayette didn't want to see Eric, but he didn't mind Eric seeing him with Godric.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

While taking a shower, Sookie was positive she could have handled what she was trying to tell Lafayette better. There was no reason for him to be so sensitive. He had to be careful. Being a vampire didn't make him immune to getting hurt, or killed. He didn't know Godric the way she did. Even if Lafayette felt he was physically all right here, Godric could wear a person down emotionally. Sookie knew Lafayette's skin was thick, and he had his own way of fending off words.

Sookie would try again tonight to warn Lafayette and convince him to come home where he belonged. She'd take care of straightening out Eric, if Lafayette had a problem living in Area 5 with Eric as sheriff.

On top of that, she had bigger things to worry about since Lafayette was too full of himself to listen to her the first time she tried to tell him that Godric wasn't easy to get along with. What was Sookie going to do about fairies? Claudine had tricked her. She probably tricked Grandaddy Earl too. Sookie lived next to the cemetery that they had a doorway in. What allowed them to just grab her? How could she stop them from taking her again, and trying to force her to eat some of that fruit? Maybe Godric could tell her, when he wasn't busy.

Now that he was back to being Godric, he had things to do. He should have been doing this all along instead of screwing around with Eric and bothering her.

*** **Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

If Eric was here, Lafayette might kiss that motherfucker. He had before, both in his dreams, then in real life, after he was turned. He still hated his ass, but he tried to be a better person for Godric. Sometimes, he'd wish Godric would be less Gandhi, and be that fang-faced badass that turned him. It wasn't a wish Lafayette wanted to come true, yet it was nice thinking that Godric could kick Eric's ass any night of the week.

Since he missed his wake-up cuddles, Lafayette had been anxiously waiting for Godric to retire for the night. They had a habit of returning to their boudoir hours before dawn for Lafayette to take care of business before he dropped like a rock when the sun rose.

"Feeling better, papi?"

"Miss Stackhouse is asleep."

"Good."

"She is a troubled person."

"Hmm," Lafayette agreed, his mouth looking to do other things besides talking.

"Is it only vampires, or does she think everyone gives her faulty information?"

"Huh? Don't worry none 'bout her. She's goin' home."

"She says I lie to her."

"Nah …" Lafayette started to deny, then he recalled the phone call Heimdall got at Fangtasia. Boy had been there all fucking night, and Sookie wasn't believing any of it. How often had she done that sort of shit that Godric's mind dwelt on it? "Sook's had a rough time of it."

"I attempted to help her when she asked for things, but I'm unable to do anything to her satisfaction. After I had the stones put on her driveway, she told me it was wrong, and then I wouldn't loan her money. If I had made the loan, would Miss Stackhouse not be so angry with me?"

Lafayette knew how bad Godric was with numbers, and the thought that Sookie wanted to take advantage of it, and kept harassing Godric about how bad his math was, made him angry. He said, "Anyone ask you for a loan, always say 'no'." He then added a concession, "Eric's okay. Him and me's the only exceptions."

Godric said 'yes' to Dusty whether it was a hundred, thousand or a million, but Dusty wasn't a thief. Lafayette asked to look at things, and once Godric said it was okay, Dusty showed him whatever he wanted. Talk about Sugar Daddy. Powerful, wealthy, and generously gave him his own credit card.

There was a huge difference between vampire and human memory. Since the moment he woke as vampire, Lafayette remembered everything perfectly. Human things took longer, and were hazy. However, they weren't that long ago, so he remembered almost as much as he did then, and Lafayette remembered Sookie's new driveway. Didn't she say she paid for it? Maybe. He remembered Hoyt and Jason joking on the job about letting a woman pick out the gravel. Always going for looks, rather than practicality. They might have known Sookie chose the fancier stones because a vampire was picking up the bill, because they were concentrating on the upkeep of getting an occasional truck dumped in the future to keep it up. Of course, why would they think Sookie paid for it, when her house looked like shit after Maryann got done with it? Why the fuck was he pondering driveways when he had a gorgeous man beside him?

Lafayette tried to think of Godric as a man, rather than the answer to the fantasies he had when he was an adolescent. It would be more acceptable if he was a vampire who appeared to be the same age, but that was never going to happen. Godric would always be this young, and Lafayette would always look at least ten years older. Being gay didn't mean he was also a pedophile. Mentally, Godric was iffy on some things, but he definitely wasn't innocent. That's what Lafayette concentrated on. Pedophiles hurt children, and Godric was not a child.

"Forget about it," Lafayette said, shaking off his negative thoughts. "Some people can't ever be happy. You're doin' an excellent job with me, and I love you for it."

"You have to say that. I'm your maker."

"Oh really? I didn't hear Jessica singing Bill's praises."

Godric agreed, "He is a terrible maker."

"You the best," Lafayette cooed, getting back to foreplay.

"No, I'm not," Godric said slowly, pulling Lafayette off him, turning on his side so his back was to his child.

Lafayette was hurt. He waited, then traced a finger down the tattoo on Godric's spine. His own little, inky twinkie.

Sookie being here should change nothing between them. She could pack up her troubles and take them back to Louisiana with her. Later today, thanks to Eric.

His finger traveled further south, down the back of Godric's pants.

"Lafayette," he warned.

"Your head was bothering you earlier, but now you need to unwind, and stop thinking so much. The only thing's that your fault is you don't know how to understand how some people think. You don't need to make that your problem. They are responsible for themselves. You do your best to help them, and from what I see, you do more than enough. Bitch wants to get home, you took care of it, or Eric's taking care of it, but either way, it's done as soon as her ass is on that plane."

"You want her gone?"

"If she wants to be there, then let her get home. She ain't here on no social call to say 'hey, how ya doin'?'"

"You're right," Godric agreed. He didn't want to think about Sookie because that brought back the memory of his intent to kill as many innocent people as he could find before dawn in Shreveport, before Lafayette distracted him. He was a monster. He would always be a monster. He would do his best to make sure Lafayette did not become like him.

Lafayette was pleased that Godric rolled onto him, to rest his head against his chest, but he knew his maker was not in a positive mood. He wished he knew a better way to handle these moods, rather than imitating Eric and stroking Godric's hair.

*** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood ***

Was that a phone? Sookie thought groggily as she opened her eyes and looked around.

"Yeah?" she asked, picking it up, remembering she was in Godric's house.

"There's clothes for you outside the door, and a bag for your dirty stuff. You're going to the airport in an hour.

"Huh?"

"The airport. You have a flight."

"Who's this?"

"Dusty. I work for Godric."

"Right," Sookie agreed, not remembering if she had been truly introduced. "I don't got no identification."

"Humans traveling with vampires on Anubis don't need it, unless they are entering another country."

"But what about security screening?"

"You get on the plane with the coffin. We've weighted one to go with you to Shreveport."

"Huh?"

"No one but you wants to go to Louisiana, but Anubis likes to move a coffin too. Get up and get dressed."

"But …"

He hung up on her! His manners were as bad as Godric's. She couldn't wait to get out of here.

Sookie wasn't in a better mood when she found Dusty upstairs in the kitchen, sitting and enjoying a cup of coffee, after passing an Anubis shipping coffin near the front door. There was no vampire in it because she couldn't feel that empty space that a vampire mind showed up as with her telepathy.

"Why didn't anyone tell me I was going home today?"

"Bullshit. I told you."

"I mean before."

"Before what?"

"Last night."

Dusty stretched his leg out then said, "I can't tell you before I know."

"I mean Godric."

"Why would Godric know when your flight is? Listen, princess, you got a flight when Anubis could schedule it. I don't want to hear shit about you losing sleep, or whatever your problem is."

"Don't call me princess."

"Then buzz off. I thought you showed up here looking for help to get home from Lafayette, and now you're whining at me for no good, goddamned reason."

"All I want to know is what is going on."

"What do you need to know?"

"Why am I going home today?"

"You don't want to go back to Louisiana?"

"Of course I do."

Dusty grunted at her, and was sure he knew why they were sending her away, and obviously sparing no expense if they were sending her on an Anubis plane. This woman was the worst kind of woman. Every little thing a man did was wrong. Give them rubies, and they'd bitch they wanted emeralds. He was too old for this kind of shit. At least Lafayette could take a credit card and buy whatever the fuck he wanted without involving him. Dusty didn't care if he wore a god damned diamond tiara with matching earrings and necklace when he was on his knees sucking off Godric because Lafayette was self-sufficient, and didn't bother him about stupid shit. Godric could be stupid, but Dusty was used to that. He was an innocent stupid so needed the help.

"Ooh, I gotta call Tara before she sends my stuff here Federal Express. Can I borrow your cell phone?"

"No."

"What?"

"Use the phone on the wall behind you."

She was really getting tired of people treating her like dirt. What did this guy expect? She went to sleep last night in a underground room with no one telling her anything. Then she got woken up to hear she had to get her ass in gear right now because they were sending her home today.

Sookie got Tara, and everything was good because Tara said she hadn't started looking yet since she was busy taking care of Benedict and had to go. Sookie understood, and she'd know soon enough first-hand how hard it was to take care of a baby.

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Flying east added hours onto the trip because she was crossing over time zones, so it wasn't till dark that her plane landed in Shreveport. Sookie had taken a nap during the trip because there wasn't much to do except drink and think. Thinking was the rough part.

She hadn't been gone even an hour, and Tara already had her baby and who knows what else.

Besides stealing her life and Grandaddy's Earl's, fairies dropped her off on the other side of the country so she had to ask for help. Once she found out how much this flight cost, she could take some of the money she got from Eric, and pay Godric back. Sookie wasn't looking for a handout, nor a vampire telling her 'I told you so'. Godric hadn't said it, but she knew he had warned her about fairies so was probably thinking it. She didn't need him or anyone else because the fairies were closing the portals to the real world.

This time, Sookie meant it for real – no more vampires.

At least Godric was living in California, so he wouldn't be showing up at her house any more, causing arguments, and smashing up her back porch.

Bill, oh, Sookie was so mad at Bill she could spit. It went back to fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Sookie thought Bill was dead, and felt sorry for him while she thought he could be dead. Then he shows up, out of nowhere, without even a phone call, does the dramatic entrance thing, and expects her to drop everything so he could 'Sookie's mine' her and full her full of lies again. Asshole.

Speaking of which, Eric didn't need to be one. Sookie had seen another side of Eric, once all his memories and personality was drained out of him. Eh, so she guessed that wasn't Eric. He was the same pretty packaging was all. Really pretty packaging.

Oh damn. Sookie had no money, credit card or cell phone. Was Anubis going to drive her to Bon Temps like last time?

She asked the flight attendant, and she returned saying the delivery was to an address in Shreveport. Sookie looked at it. It was Fangtasia. Damn it. Why the fuck would Godric think she wanted to go there? The last person she wanted to see was Eric Northman.

Even better was the woman saying they could take her to an alternate destination, once the vampire she was traveling with rose and okayed it. Sookie almost screamed. There was no vampire traveling with her, they could wait till the cows came home till a vampire popped out of that coffin … especially since it was Heimdall's name listed as the vampire passenger. Yes, there was definitely no vampire mind on this plane.

Godric was lucky she was now in Louisiana, or she'd… well, words didn't seem to work with him, and slapping him silly wouldn't help either. Grrr. This is where Eric got all his high-handed, do-it-his-way, not-take-no-for-an-answer attitude.

Sookie crossed her arms over her chest, and fumed as she watched them land out the window. She should refuse the ride to Fangtasia, and ask how to get to the main part of the airport so she could call Tara or Jason or Sam to pick her up.

By the time she was done waiting for the plane to taxi into the Anubis hanger, and the stairs on wheels to be brought around for her, Sookie was positive that's what she should do.

Sookie was waiting for her small bag, that they insisted they stow as luggage, when something grabbed her from behind.

Her brief scream was cut short as she spun around and saw Eric. Sookie smacked him in the middle of his tank top which clung to that chest of his.

"Hello to you too, Sookie."

"I'm angry, Eric," Sookie informed him through gritted teeth.

"Was the flight terrible?"

"No, it was … good." Sookie couldn't fault Anubis for anything.

Eric nodded, then said, "That is good to hear. I scheduled it at short notice."

"You?"

"Yes, of course. You wanted to get home, and I wanted you back with me. See, that worked out perfect."

"Ugh," Sookie snarled. He never let up.

"You ready?"

"I'm waiting for my bag, then I got to get a ride."

"I thought I was driving you."

"Well, you thought wrong."

"I don't believe your ride's here yet. Who'd you call?"

"None of your business."

"Your brother?"

When Sookie remained silent, Eric probed, "That woman living in your house?"

"You leave Tara alone."

"Why would I bother her? She took care of your house while you were absent."

"Tara don't like vampires none."

"So who is late picking you up … Merlotte?"

"No, now leave me alone. There's my bag, and I'm going to wait in the main part of the airport."

"I think you're lying … or maybe you want me gone because you have someone unexpected picking you up. Did you call Compton? 'Oh Bill, come rescue little ol' me, who's left all on her lonesome at the dark, deserted airport'."

"Eric, when you try speaking like a girl, it doesn't work."

"This fabrication that you have a ride doesn't work. You want to get over to the main part of the airport to get a taxi?"

"That's none of your business, mister."

"I'll keep you company till your ride shows up because we need to talk, and I'm not sure you'll take my calls."

"You got that right. I am done with vampires."

"Your fairy friends got your head all turned around thinking they're poor, innocent fae things that just so happened to have some great and mutually beneficial love affair with one of your female ancestors that has now resulted in you?"

"Don't go there, Eric. I hate them more than I hate you at the moment, but you're edging your way to number one."

"Maybe someone else can climb the charts. Her Majesty, the always scintillating Sophie-Anne, gently requests your services as part of her entourage for a summit to be held in a month. She will cover all your expenses – travel, hotel, and also your fee, which I told her was $100,000, since as your lover, I'm sure you've given me a generous discount …"

Sookie shrieked and slapped Eric across the face.

"I may not remember, but Godric did, and told me all about it," Eric said.

She gasped, first because … oh wait,Godric wasn't there when she blasted Debbie Pelt to bits, and he was also under a spell then and when he was a total A-hole asking him to wash his body, and almost messing up Pam's plan. They also didn't know that they were both with her at the same time.

"I am not working for that woman. How does she even know I'm back?"

"That is a good question," Eric pondered. "I hadn't informed her. I doubt Godric did. Is there any other vampire that's had your blood that is close to the Queen, owes her life and position, and is willing to sell you out?"

"Eric, being catty and bitchy doesn't suit you. I'm not working for her. And if you didn't tell her, how could you set my price?"

"One of the Queen's associates, who apparently does not trust Bill Compton, called on me to confirm that you were no longer his so Bill's negotiation fell apart earlier tonight when he was unable to produce you. I was unaware of all this till earlier tonight, after your flight left California."

"So why would you getting involved help me?"

"Sophie-Anne will pay you, not your vampire who owes her his very existence."

"No way. And you've always paid me, not Bill. Besides, I hate her."

"Be that as it may, and something you should keep secret from her, Sophie-Anne's requests are not really requests, so if it seems like I am politely asking you, which is what I thought you'd prefer, I now need to tell you that either you go with a smile on your face, or something may be befall you."

"How dare you threaten me."

"Threaten? I am asking you for a positive response, so that lapdog that lives across the graveyard from you doesn't get a second chance to scoop you up for his mistress, after he's forced enough of his blood into you that the only word you'll speak from now on is 'Bee-ill'."

"I don't call him Bee-ill."

Eric immaturely mimicked both voices, "Soooo-kie", then "Beeee-ill."

"Neither of us sound that way," she lied.

"So you're defending him, even though you are his failed mission. The one he was punished for."

"And Bill doesn't live in Bon Temps no more. Sophie-Anne gave the old Compton house to my cousin, Hadley."

"And Bill got it back from her."

"Hadley wouldn't do that to me."

Besides the gaping hole of missing days in his memory, Eric was not sure when what happened to her cousin since he did not know what happened in New Orleans. What happened in Sophie-Anne's court was mostly boring nonsense. The last thing he was sure of before Sookie's disappearance was he returned Hadley to New Orleans. The other details were largely meaningless now that Hadley was dead.

"So I can accept on your behalf?" Eric asked.

"No," Sookie emphatically stated, annoyed at how persistent he was being.

"What don't you understand about you will do it? You will be part of Sophie-Anne's retinue, whether you are in your right mind or not."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I wouldn't dare what? She's not going to ask me to procure you. I'm a sheriff. She's going to get some lowlife, maybe not even Bill this time, and they can handle you as easily as Bill did, before he got delusions of grandeur about becoming a sheriff himself, and selling out his liege, or lieges. Whatever drivel he told Sophie-Anne to explain his behavior is between them."

"I'm not revisiting all this, Eric. Leave me alone. We're in the airport now. There's lights. There's people. And I don't need you."

Eric's eyebrow raised. He liked Sookie, but at times, she could be illogical and frustrating. She doesn't need him now that he paid for her flight from Los Angeles to Shreveport, which needed to be via a private carrier or Anubis because she had no identification on her?

He replied, "If you say so. I'll let you wait for your ride here then. Good night."

Sookie saw Eric disappear from her sight, but waited because he could have stuck around to watch her.

She called Merlotte's again. This time Sam answered.

"Hey, Sam, it's Sookie."

"Uh huh," Sam replied. Tara told him that Sookie called out of the blue yesterday from somewhere in California.

"I don't have any money on me, so could I take a cab from Shreveport to the bar, and then I'll pay you back after I get to the bank?"

Sam's eyes looked upward as he sarcastically wondered if he had a 'sucker' sign flashing over his head. He answered, "Sure, will you be here before we close?"

"I hope so."

"Well, I'll be in my trailer after that."

"Okay, thanks."

Sookie went outside, went to the short line of taxis, and told the first driver where she wanted to go. He replied, "I'll have to stop on the way for gas, but I can go out there."

"Okay," she replied and got in.

They stopped for gas outside the airport, so Sookie saw the meter was already close to $10. Once they got on the highway, it started climbing fast. There was a price chart that said they were charged by a fraction of a mile, but then had a rate per mile, then there was an airport fee too. How many miles was Bon Temps to Shreveport? It was an hour's drive.

Sookie dreaded the waste of money as the figure kept growing. She had it, after her big payday from Eric, but it was the equivalent of hours and hours of work at Merlotte's. Then, she started worrying about her medical bills. If she had been gone months, she had overdue payments. She'd have to call them, then get checks for the full amounts out to them, or maybe hand-deliver them. And the taxes on the house, unless Tara paid them for her. They had never discussed any rent, but with Sookie missing, she'd hope Tara would do something to make sure the house was all right, or Jason, if Tara's baby was costing her a lot of money.

Oh, she needed to get a gift for little Benedict too. Maybe if any of these bills had an office in Ruston, she could stop in at Babies R Us or something.

After some groaning from her driver, Sookie ran inside. Sam looked grumpier when she told him the amount, but he started counting out twenties for her. Sam grumbled about her flying to Monroe next time. Best would be for her to call someone to pick her up, in advance of already being at the airport. Sam was feeling like he was the only one with brains around here at times. He had his stint of taking off to find his parents, after telling a few people, but Lafayette, Tara, Jason, and now Sookie, he just couldn't muster the energy to bother, especially since Sookie chose to disappear on official vampire business, and let them think she was dead for a couple months. Done with Bill Compton, his ass.

Sookie picked up that Sam was angry, but she had no idea how much the cab ride was going to cost, and did plan to pay him back. Actually, if she had known it was going to be so expensive, she might have taken that ride from Eric. Just because she had money today, didn't mean she had to go pissing it away. She was never going to work for vampires again, no matter how much they offered her. She could get by just fine on her wages and tips from Merlotte's. Thank you very much.

After running out and paying the driver, Sookie came back inside to answer some of the questions that had been yelled at her. Uh … wait, she was on vampire business? Getting stolen by a fairy sounded lame, and if the portals were closed so fairies couldn't show up, then no one else could get hurt by them.

She had to do a bit of mind reading to sort through plausible answers, relying heavily on 'sort of' as people filled in their own blanks. Sookie was opposed to the whole idea that Bill was the source of information regarding her. They were over with, done, and to her, Bill was as dead in her heart as she thought he had been when he disappeared.

It wasn't until Sam asked, "Where were you really?" that Sookie was really tempted to say something else. She didn't want Sam to think that she still had something going on with Bill, who by the way, she found out was dating Portia Bellefleur during her hour or two of investigative mind reading. Portia Bellefleur was Andy's sister, the lawyer. She thought she was hot stuff and smart, but she was still living in Bon Temps, instead of moving to the big city and joining a hot shot firm.

"Uh, I can't tell you. I'd like to one day."

"But your last stop was California, and for some reason you were there without your wallet, money, and calling us collect."

"Yeah, I was kind of dropped there."

"Eric have anything to do with it?"

"Hell no."

"Good."

"Why good?"

"He owns part of Merlotte's now so no one has to go to Fangtasia to work to get medical benefits."

"Oh no."

"It's not much, and I talk to Bruce. Bruce is interested in money, especially how much I spend. It hasn't hurt that he took an interest in my invoices because he came down hard on a distributor that charges way more than he should for a couple things, and now I get a better discount because my account's linked to Fangtasia's. But that's not what you care about, is it? Eric doesn't stop in for a Tru Blood, or anything else."

"But you work so hard, Sam."

"Yeah, because I have people disappearing on me instead of working their shifts."

"That's … I would have called if I could."

"What? They holding you prisoner? Is that why you had nothing?"

"Uh … I wasn't being held prisoner by vampires."

"Okay. So how's Lafayette?"

"Oh, um, he's … I got him angry at me because I got on his case about … him going Hollywood."

"He already had the car," Sam said.

"Yeah, he's still got that. And he lives in a big house with a pool and a view."

"Is Tara right that he's got himself a sugar daddy?"

"I'm not sure. He lives with Heimdall, who's gone back to using his regular name of Godric, and Lafayette made it seem like they're together together."

"I know you told me he's an old vampire, but … I don't know. I know gay does not mean Lafayette's into that man boy love thing, but he's not a kid either, so I guess if they were together, that's not crossing the line into child abuse."

"Godric's straight so I don't think they're really together, but when I tried to warn him that he might want to have a backup plan because Godric's not wound too tight, he got nasty."

"Lafayette lost Jesus, Sook. We still don't know why those witches had him and Lafayette as prisoners. Who knew how they were treated, or what happened. Maybe living with a vampire who's so accommodating, is giving Lafayette what he needs."

"What Lafayette needs? You should see his closet. The only thing he's missing is a collection of wigs."

"Sook, that sounds like he's fillin' the hole in his heart. You can't go blamin' someone for buyin' a whole mess of stuff when they're down. What about women, or maybe men, who eat a half gallon of ice cream after a break-up?"

"You don't understand, Sam."

"Yeah, I guess not," he replied. Even Luna had rebuffed him a couple times, and she knew what he was. What she was. Things were never simple for him.

"Um, can I have a ride home please?"

"Sure. I think Tara tries to get as much sleep as she can. Between Arlene and Tara, I don't know if we have two future Einsteins, and two little Charlie Mansons."

"Sam!"

"I'm just listening to what they say. I don't think a little throw up makes someone Evil, and that's with the capital 'E', or else I'd have a gateway to hell right here in the parking lot. The hose seems to take care of the sick just fine."

"Hm," Sookie agreed. She could imagine lack of sleep got Tara saying things she didn't mean, and knew that Arlene could say some pretty crazy stuff about the kids she already had. In their hearts though, they both knew they were blessed. Sookie still wanted to be blessed, but finding Mr. Right was going to have to wait a bit.

Tara had left the outside lights on for her, and Sookie had had her keys in her pocket, when she left months ago, so let herself in, and waved bye to Sam after calling out another thank you.

Something was wrong. A loud electronic noise sounded, and Tara came huffing down the stairs with a baseball bat, while there was some loud crying upstairs.

"Sookie, ya could have called to say you was close," Tara warned as she pounded numbers into a panel.

There was an alarm system in Gran's house.

"I didn't want to wake you and the baby."

"Huh!"

Sookie followed Tara into the kitchen, and watched her take a bottle out of the refrigerator and put it in the microwave. It was strange seeing baby bottles instead of the Tru Blood she had in there for Eric and Heimdall.

"Um …"

"I gotta give him a bottle, that usually help him go back to sleep. I got all your mail together and brought it up to your room. Jason got some paper that says he can sign checks for you, but I was givin' him the bills and havin' everythin' written up for him."

"Okay."

So maybe the tax bill was paid, and that's why the lights were still on.

The microwave beeped, and Tara said, "Good night. I'll talk to ya tomorrow."

What Sookie needed was a pen and paper. She needed to make a to-do list, starting with paying Sam back, and to sort out who she had to call, once she found her mail, so she could tell them how soon she could pay them off. And a bank statement, because she thought Eric's money should be enough, but didn't know how many bills had piled up while she wasn't here. She was angry that she had only just deposited Eric's check in her checking account, and it could have been earning interest, if she had known she was going to hold onto it, untouched, all this time, thanks to her kidnapping fairy relatives. What she told Eric was absolutely right. Sookie hated fairies more because they had ruined her family's lives as far back as her grandparents. Bill indirectly got Gran killed, and Bill broke her heart, but it was fairies that stole Grandaddy Earl, and hadn't left them alone since. Oh crap, Bill could still be hanging around and bothering her children and grandchildren decades later too.

Sookie made some coffee. There was a lot more in her kitchen and the cabinets then before. Baby stuff, including a high chair. Okay, so Tara had one of those already. She had to come up with a really good gift. Tara was her best friend, even though they only saw each other for … hours? … in the past year.

Hey, someone fixed the back porch. Sookie turned on the light and stepped out. It was really nice, but where did the new white washer and dryer come from? Gran's were still working when she left so she shouldn't have gotten an insurance check for them, unless Tara or Jason found someone to do the work as a favor, then used the extra to get new appliances. They should have talked to her first, before making that decision. Sookie didn't want to waste money when the old stuff worked fine.

There was even a window that swung open to use two new clotheslines. One of them had some little baby clothes on it. Since Benedict needed to have a lot of laundry done, Sookie supposed the new appliances were a worthwhile investment.

"Sookie."

Her heart sped up. Bill was standing below her.

"What?" she asked.

"You're back."

"Yeah."

"I felt return yesterday, but you were far away."

Sookie shut the window. She could still hear him, "We need to talk."

"I don't got anything to say to you," she responded, knowing he could hear her as well as she could hear him.

"Sookie, a lot has changed since you disappeared."

"I thought you told everyone I was working for vampires."

"It's true. I did fabricate that, and the queen has had money deposited every week into your bank account as a retainer. You will need to do work for her."

"I never agreed to that, and I never wanted her money. I'll pay her back."

"Your friends saw it as a windfall, and have been spending it to make improvements that they think you approved."

"Huh?"

"The porch you are standing upon," Bill explained.

"I filed an insurance claim."

"It was denied."

"Look, I want nothing to do with vampires. Just leave me alone. When I get a handle on everything, I'll give your queen's money back," Sookie promised. She couldn't believe it, but then Bill always had been a good liar. If he said she wanted the porch fixed, new clothesline, new appliances, who'd think he wasn't telling the truth? It's not like he was paying for anything.

Bill was on the porch in front of her, imploring, "Sookie …"

"How'd you get in here?"

"I have been a welcome guest …"

"I rescinded your invitation, and Tara hates vampires. Get out of my house … forever."

After locking the new storm door, and refusing to look at how forlorn Bill looked out there, Sookie stomped back into the kitchen and shut and locked the inside door. What made her even angrier is that Bill cared more about her house when they were no longer together, then when they were. Shit. Eric warned her that Bill might be ordered to lure her in again, and coming home to find things all nice for her could be a huge step in that direction. And Tara let him in here? No way. He glamoured her. He might have glamoured everyone she knew.

Oh my God, she thought to herself, staring into the refrigerator. It was like she was looking into a stranger's. Since when did Tara drink soy milk? Yuck. What was she supposed to put in her coffee? She added another sugar instead, and went upstairs with it.

After looking at a few things, Sookie's stomach turned as surely as if she had a whole glass of Tara's soy milk. She was paying for a weekly lawn service that also did landscaping. She now had central air conditioning with ductwork, and a natural gas furnace with the accompanying bills from a plumber to install the piping, and then there was more ducts to wherever ducts went. Her taxes were paid, along with the gas she already used for the stove, the electricity and water were paid, and the minimum payments were made against her existing medical bills.

Her monthly bank statements told the whole story. She started out with Eric's money, and whenever a big repair or job was done, a big hunk of that disappeared besides the constant stream of money flowing out. Sophie-Anne's deposits of $50 a week were nothing, comparatively. True, Sookie hadn't been working for her, but $50 was not an amount she'd agree to for a week's work. Sam paid her $10 an hour, plus her tips.

It was pretty much gone. She even got up to look at her new energy saving windows. For the price, Sookie had been expecting some gold leaf somewhere.

She was screwed over, and Bill probably glamoured everyone into thinking what a great job they were doing. Her best friend, her brother … who was Mr. Cataliades, Esquire? There was a post it note stuck to the back of his business card in Tara's writing 'cousin's estate'. What cousin? The only cousin she had was Hadley, and she certainly did not have an estate. She didn't even have Bill's house any more.

There was a tapping sound on one of her new windows. Sookie went and looked. She should have known, she thought to herself with a sigh. It was Eric, hovering outside.

"What?"

His mouth moved, and there was a little sound, but not enough for her to hear what, so she unlocked and opened the window.

"I was saying you felt sad, without me, so I thought I should check on you."

"For once, you had nothing to do with it, Eric. Go away."

"Is everything all right?"

"No, it's not, and it's not your fault, and you can't fix it either."

Eric gave a slow nod, and said, "Life is short for you, yet I believe you should not have aged while you were in the fairyland. You could take comfort in that."

Sookie's mouth quirked to the side. That wasn't why she was upset, but it was something good to know, if she had been gone years, like Grandaddy Earl. Vampires killed her Gran, and fairies killed her Grandaddy.

"Knowing that made you sadder, so I suppose I did not address your concern."

"It's … it's nothing, Eric. I guess things were handled the best way they could be while I wasn't here, but do you know who told people I was away on vampire business?"

"You do not like working for vampires. You will in an emergency, if the task and payment is to your liking. That is why I suggested such an outrageous price to become a member of Sophie-Anne's delegation, since spying on other vampires through their humans sounds beneath you. She still has some of Russell's money, and it would be fitting if you had your share of it."

"I'm happy someone knows me well enough to give it some thought. I think Bill glamoured everyone."

"That may be. I do not reside here so my knowledge is limited. I did see things around your house were maintained, repaired and painted. Was someone going to sell your house while you were away?"

"No way. It's my house. No one would sell it on me."

"True," Eric agreed. "So your discontent is over the belief that you were unharmed somewhere, rather than your neighbors continuing to look for you?"

"That would be a waste of time since they wouldn't be able to find me where I was."

"Also true."

Sookie tried to explain, "It's just … I missed so much, and I think they were doing things because Bill told them it was what I wanted."

"Yes, Bill wanted to be involved with work at your house because something of his is missing. I've been accused multiple times of having a computer of his, that was left in your safekeeping."

"What a fuckin' liar! He hid a laptop in my house, and didn't tell me it was here."

Eric laughed.

"What? You know where it is, don't you?"

"Does it matter? Bill remembers all the text. He is vampire."

"Right, Heimdall, I mean Godric, said that. There is no need for Bill to have a listing of vampires because he would remember everything. Does he think I gave it away to a group like the Fellowship?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm only guessing, but you had the only copies of some of the photos. A lot of older vampires do not like being photographed so it might be difficult to obtain another."

"I don't care. Bill shouldn't have hidden it here."

"Can I come in?" Eric asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't want anything to do with vampires, Eric. I've had enough."

"Lover-"

"Agh! Don't call me that."

"You expect me to believe you over my maker?"

"No, but that was then, and this is now. You got schemes within schemes, mister, and I don't have patience for that shit, besides getting hurt."

"I would like to protect you."

"Yeah, and I'll turn out like Lafayette."

"You want to be made vampire?"

"No! Never. What happened to Lafayette anyway?"

"If he did not tell you, why should I?"

"I thought I was going to be there longer."

Eric took a moment to stare at Sookie. She must have realized he talked to Godric and Lafayette. He did meet her at the airport. Lafayette made it clear that Sookie needed to get out of their nest as soon as possible because she was not an ideal house guest.

"I've seen photos of the house there," Eric responded. "It must be wonderful to visit."

"It is. It's big, and the view is gorgeous. Their pool's better than yours too."

"I think their residence would seem out of place in Shreveport. Vampires in Los Angeles, and even the rest of California, can move in lofty circles, even after what Russell Edgington did in full view of the public."

"I didn't get to go sightseeing. After finding out I was gone for months, I just wanted to get home."

"Understandable."

Sookie said, "Listen, Eric, I'm tired, and I want to get up early and get a better handle on things."

"Very well, I will see you another night."

"Uh, no. I don't think so."

"I think you will," Eric responded, before disappearing.

Sookie shut her window. What did she expect? Eric to mature while she was gone?

***** Tru Blood *** Tru Blood *****

Lafayette's eyes opened, and he saw his man was still on the bed tonight. Godric was nude, and usually rested that way. He had explained early it was a habit he got in when he used to rest in the earth to keep his clothes clean. Lafayette didn't mind.

On the other hand, Lafayette was nowhere as comfortable with his own nudity. He dressed for bed, both for resting hard and playing hard.

His maker was not reading his Kindle, but looking at the ceiling. Lafayette did not like it when Godric spent chunks of time thinking. Lafayette certainly didn't like doing much thinking himself. He found the man of his dreams in Jesus, but he was ambitious in the wrong way, almost got both of them killed, wait … they actually were both killed, and now Lafayette thought he was doing the right thing, but had doubts. Oftentimes, Lafayette felt that Godric was not with him.

Heimdall did not kill Jesus, even if he was out of his mind at the time. He saved Lafayette's life, gave him whatever he wanted, including his company … and here Lafayette was lying around overthinking this shit. This was his life now. Period.

On the other hand, Godric was contemplating his damnation. It was a terrible sin to turn another. He did not want to compound it by leaving Lafayette without guidance. His thoughts were interrupted when Lafayette rolled into him and said, "Evenin', sweet'ums."

"Lafayette," he replied.

His child kissed him for minutes before asking, "Club tonight?"

"If you wish."

"What would you like to do?" Lafayette asked. His maker was not responding to his foreplay.

"It matters not."

"It matters to me."

"We were in the middle of watching that show you like with the women."

"Oh, we can watch more, when we get back home. I can't believe how much I forgot. It's still the good episodes, 'cept for that new family that moved in with the man down in the basement," Lafayette said, purposely not saying who it was. Godric did enjoy the complexity of the stories and the sudden plot twists, even if he didn't understand the reasons behind why the characters did what they did. Telling him it was simply for ratings didn't clear it up. He was going to have to be more selective in the future about what he chose as entertainment for the two of them. Lafayette would never be able to show Godric _Twin Peaks._

"Their story does not seem part of the housewife group."

"I at first thought they were just the token blacks on the show."

"Will there be vampires?"

"No, but gays'll move in soon enough to Wisteria Lane."

"Other than Andrew?"

"Pfft."

"What would you like me to wear?" Godric asked.

Lafayette smiled. Sometimes he felt like the Sharona to Godric's Monk, and other times, his sweetheart went with whatever he said.

"How about one of those kilts Pam bought for you?"

"All right."

"And those boots I love?"

"If you'll lace them, and help me take them off."

Lafayette didn't know why he worried about Godric and him. Had so many relationships in the past soured that he worried about one that was finally good? Godric's insistence that Lafayette not attack people, and be patient regarding how he fed were not unreasonable barring no vampire liked the taste of Tru Blood.

Author's Note: Just to review since it was chapters ago, Eric threw the tree on Sookie's back porch without Godric's/Heimdall's knowledge. Sookie does not know who did that.

Another Author's Note: I was under the impression waitresses were paid less than minimum wage, but Sookie's hourly rate was in the episode Strange Love when she complained that some women got $1000 to lay there and she busted her 'ass for ten bucks an hour plus tips!'


End file.
